Marina Rodriguez issues statement following decision win over Michelle Waterson at UFC Vegas 26

UFC women’s strawweight Marina Rodriguez issued a statement following her unanimous decision victory over Michelle Waterson at UFC Vegas 26.

Rodriguez put forth an exceptional performance in the main event of UFC Vegas 26 on Saturday night as she outpointed Waterson for five rounds to take home a unanimous decision victory. Rodriguez showed off her world-class Muay Thai skills as she was also able to go a full, hard 25 minutes for the first time in her UFC career. Overall, it was a fantastic showing by Rodriguez, and even though the fight took place up a weight class at 125lbs, it was still a big win that should help her move up the women’s strawweight rankings, too.

Taking to her social media following the fight, Rodriguez issued a statement about the victory, thanking the UFC for getting the fight booked and Waterson for taking it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COpCF4RpM39/

First of all, thank you @ufc  thank you @danawhite, thank you @mickmaynard2 for the amazing opportunity! Thank you @karatehottiemma for sharing the octagon with me and for battling me for 5 tough rounds!

Rodriguez has now beaten Waterson and Amanda Ribas in her last two fights, so her stock couldn’t be any higher at the moment. If the winner of Carla Esparza vs. Yan Xiaonan doesn’t get the title shot, it’s possible that the UFC could consider booking Rodriguez against UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas since there isn’t a clear No. 1 contender at 115lbs right now. Stylistically, a fight between Rodriguez and the champ Namajunas would be a lot of fun. Otherwise, she could fight someone like former champs Weili Zhang or Joanna Jedrzejczyk next in order to get one step closer to a title shot. Either way, this win over Waterson showed how good she is and raised her stock once again.

What do you think is next for Marina Rodriguez after beating Michelle Waterson at UFC Vegas 26?