‘I Would Be More Than Willing to Fight Her’ – Marina Rodriguez Calls Out Joanna Jedrzejczyk

UFC Vegas 26 was another one of the exceptional events that the UFC put out in 2021. The main event was an encapsulation of the entire show as the fight between Marina Rodriguez and Michelle Waterson went the distance. Rodriguez, who got the win in one of the most important fights of her career, is now looking to make the step up to fight the top five competitors in the strawweight division.

She was ranked number six in the official UFC rankings ahead of the fight; Waterson was ranked number nine. Rodriguez talked to the media at the post-event press conference.

The fighter said, “I would like to fight a couple more times this year. Hoping a top-three opponent next time around.” She talked about the upcoming fight between Yan Xiaonan (ranked number three) and Carla Esparza (ranked number four).

Rodriguez recently lost the first fight in her career in a split decision loss to Esparza. However, she mentioned that a fight against Xiaonan would be really interesting for her. She added, “Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) is a fight that I’ve always been looking forward (to) and I think the fans are, too. If she’s back and considering fighting again, I would be more than willing to fight her.”

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Joanna’s last fight was a loss against the former strawweight champion Zhang Weili in an absolute war in March 2020.

Marina Rodriguez explains how she beat Michelle Waterson

Rodriguez, who never looked phased in the fight, ate Waterson’s kicks comfortably. She used several combinations from time to time and kept her opponent at bay. “One of the big things was trying to control the distance without making it boring,” Rodriguez said.

She added that they had a responsibility to the fans to make the fight entertaining, and they accomplished that. Rodriguez congratulated ‘The Karate Hottie’ for making the fight interesting. She also complimented her ability to hang in there for the full 25 minutes.

“I came here to get a knockout if there was a chance and she didn’t put the chance out there. I tried to blitz as much as I could, but I couldn’t get the finish. But that’s props to her,” she concluded. (h/t MMAJunkie)

Do you think Marina Rodriguez deserves a shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk?