Michelle Waterson confirms flyweight main event fight on May 8 against Marina Rodriguez

By Cole Shelton - April 28, 2021

Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez will headline UFC Vegas 26 on May 8, but the fight will take place at flyweight, Waterson revealed to BJPENN.com.

Michelle Waterson

After TJ Dillashaw was forced out of the headlining spot against Cory Sandhagen due to a nasty cut, the UFC reached out to Waterson and Rodriguez to step up on short notice to headline the card. Now, according to “The Karate Hottie” the fight is a done deal and the scrap will happen at 125lbs.

“It has been insane. It really has. But, with every fight I’ve had throughout my entire fight career, there is always a lesson to be learned,” Waterson revealed to BJPENN.com on an upcoming episode of Just Scrap Radio. “The lesson that I am taking away is I just realized in life there will always be opportunities but the question is are you ready if the opportunity comes? I was supposed to fight, then I wasn’t then I got this opportunity on Monday and it’s not something I had to do, and I don’t think you should take a fight because you had to, but because you want to and I wanted to. I was excited about the challenge, I was excited for the opportunity to step up to the plate, go into Vegas, five rounds, 125, let’s go.”

Michelle Waterson

Image: @ufc on Instagram

Although both Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez are natural strawweights, Waterson says because of the short notice the fight was agreed to at flyweight. However, The Karate Hottie says she would’ve made 115lbs if that is what the UFC wanted of her.

“I can cut the weight. I do think it’s because of short notice, if I had to I would,” Waterson added. “That’s not what they asked me for, they asked me for 125 and I talked to my husband about it and that’s what they asked for so let’s go.”

Who do you think will win between the UFC Vegas 26 main event between Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez?