UFC Fight Night – Waterson vs Rodriguez also known as UFC Vegas 26 was a doldrum event from the first day itself.
Originally the event was headlined by T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen.
Dillashaw coming off a two year ban for EPO in his system was looking to make a title comeback against the dangerous Sandhagen, who has lost only once in his last 10 appearances and was hoping to get past Dillashaw to earn a title shot in the evergreen bantamweight (135 lbs) division.
However, Dillashaw pulled out on 27th April citing a cut on the forehead. The pairing has been slated to compete at a future date.
The co-main event was in the welterweight (170 lbs) division between Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez.
Sanchez however had an ugly spat with the UFC management and was removed from this card and released by the UFC. He will be replaced by Alex Morono also known as The Great White for his superior submission skills.
Let's have a look at the final card below:
Whilst this fight card was finalized only 5 days prior to the event, it seems like a very good fight card for the fans.
The 3 fights I would like to focus on are:
1. Neil Magny vs Geoff Neal
2. Donald Cerrone vs Alex Morono
3. Marina Rodriguez vs Michelle Waterson.
Let's start off with the first Welterweight bout between Neil Magny and Geoff Neal.
Both fighters are currently on a one fight losing streak. Both lost via unanimous decision. Both lost to experienced fighters.
Both the fighters however, are extremely suave in their fight game and are coming in as ranked 9 and ranked 12 respectively.
Magny has had some championship moments in the octagon, especially versus Johny Henricks, Carlos Condit and his most recent win versus Robbie Lawler. His loss to Michael Chiesa is what set him back, or he had his eyes on the Gold since late 2020.
The Fortis MMA pedigree, Geoff Neal is coming off a loss to Stephen Thompson, but we cannot oversee the gigantic wins he’s had versus Belal Mohammad, Niko Price and most recently Mike Perry.
Overall a great contest and in the 25 foot octagon, we should see some versatile techniques to be an eye pleaser.
Crystal Ball Prediction: Neil Magny gets his hand raised.
The co-main event is another welterweight (170 lbs) fight between the 50+ fight veteran Donald Cerrone and Alex Morona.
It almost seemed to feel the Diego Sanchez fight may have been an easier challenge for Cerrone, but he's facing a man they call The Great White, due to his very swift, sublime yet effective jiu-jitsu skills. With 6 wins coming by way of submission, Morono will be a tough test for the strong-willed yet weathered Donald Cerrone.
Cerrone has been through some wars in the past. His last 4 fights were versus Tony Fergusson, Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis – all being fighters in absolute top form.
His test versus Morono would be an interesting one.
Fighters like Cerrone will always be fan favourites for their style of ‘showing-up and throwing-down’.
Crystal Ball Prediction: Donald Cerrone gets his hand raised.
The main event of the evening is a 5 round fight in the flyweight (125 lbs) division between Marina Rodriguez and Michelle Waterson.
The two female warriors usually compete in strawweight (115 lbs), but as this fight card was in doldrums till the last minute, both fighters didn’t have time to cut weight and have agreed to fight one weight class above their usual.
Marina Rodriguez:
Record: 13-1-2 |
Wins: 6 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 6 DEC | Losses: 0 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 1 DEC
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 4.86 | Striking accuracy: 50%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.16 | Striking Defense: 53%
Takedown Average: 0.36 (33% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 59%
Michelle Waterson:
Record: 18-8 |
Wins: 3 KO/TKO, 9 SUB, 6 DEC | Losses: 1 KO/TKO, 3 SUB, 4 DEC
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 3.58 | Striking accuracy: 49%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 4.00 | Striking Defense: 49%
Takedown Average: 1.52 (34% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 67%
Ranked 6, Marina Rodriguez is coming into the fight as a betting favorite that has shown tremendous improvement in her mental game as well as striking. She’s not much of a grappler and it would be interesting to see if Waterson takes this to the ground to finish things off.
Ranked number 9, Waterson, is coming off a close win over Angela Hill wants to shock the world and break into the top 5 of the category to prove why she is a dominant force even at 35.
Crystal Ball Prediction: Marina Rodriguez gets her hand raised.
I have made my prediction on the 3 fights above, if you would like to make your predictions, Tag SPOGO News on all social platforms, tag me on Somesh.Kamra on Instagram and Somesh_Kamra on twitter with your predictions.
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Catch all the live action of UFC – Rodriguez vs Waterson at 5:30 am on 9/May only on Sony Ten and I look forward to having a discussion with you live on The Ultimate Guide to UFC at 5 pm on 9th May only on the Sony Sports India Facebook page.
About the author
Somesh Kamra is a professional mixed martial artist specializing in Muay Thai. He has designed many effective training programs for Superhuman Gym and the Police Academy. His knowledge of hand to hand combat is unbeaten and has been a success story for many students. Somesh Kamra is educated from the University of Gold's Gym in the field of physical fitness that includes strength training, plyometrics & cardiovascular training for muscular conditioning.
He works closely with the UFC for India and serves as the panelist for the TV Show – The Ultimate Guide to UFC and Pit Stop on Sony Sports Network.
Somesh runs India’s first combat podcast – The Fighting G.O.A.T produced exclusively by the IVM Podcast Network.
Instagram: Somesh.Kamra
Twitter: Somesh_Kamra
