LAS VEGAS – Michelle Waterson has a new career philosophy, and that’s why you’ll see her in the octagon Saturday in the UFC on ESPN 23 main event.
At this time last week, Waterson wasn’t scheduled to fight on the ESPN-televised card at the UFC Apex in a women’s flyweight headliner with Marina Rodriguez. That spot was reserved for T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen.
But when Dillashaw suffered a cut in training, the promotion was forced to scramble for a new top bout. Waterson (18-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) got the call with Rodriguez (14-1-2 MMA, 3-1-2 UFC) on the other side, and she said it lined up perfectly with her mentality of not wanting to let any good opportunities slip past her.
“I’ve been fighting for 15 years now, and I know I only got a couple more good years in me and the more I realize that, the more I want to take advantage of every opportunity when it presents itself,” Waterson told MMA Junkie at UFC on ESPN 23 media day on Wednesday. “You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. COVID showed all of us a lot of that. I love this. I love to fight. I love to go out there. I love to perform. I love the fans, I love the media, and sometimes you can just get so wrapped up in the monotony of fighting, the training, the pressure, and the negativity of the outside noise, and you forget about all the things that made you fall in love with it to begin with.
“So, when this opportunity presented itself, I’m telling my husband (and manager), ‘Stop playing with my emotions.’ This whole year has been a whole series of up and downs for me. Just falling back in love with performing, with fighting. I told my husband, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
Waterson said she was particularly inspired to compete fresh of a title fight in her division. The short-notice nature of UFC on ESPN 23 means she’s fighting Rodriguez at 125 pounds, but both women typically compete at strawweight.
Rose Namajunas just put on a sensational title-winning effort against Weili Zhang at UFC 261, and that had Waterson itching to get back in the octagon.
A matchup with Rodriguez is a big one for the division, too. Both women are trying to make pushes toward fighting for the belt, and Waterson said she expects to put on an eye-opening performance that will stir conversation about being a title contender.
“She’s a stand-up banger who likes muay Thai, heavy hands, she’s good in the clinch, and I really like this fight stylistically,” Waterson said. “I’ve been in there with the best of the best strikers, Joanna and Rose – I know where I stand in the division, so I think this is a great matchup for me to show the world I belong at the top.”
