UFC ON ESPN 24

Jesse Petruzzelli
May 5, 2021
3 min read

Updated: May 9, 2021

The UFC has had some bad luck recently with marquee fights being cancelled last minute, and this weekends' event unfortunately was another victim to injury. The original main event headlined TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen in a battle between two top Bantamweight fighters, but with Dillashaw suffering a nasty head injury the bout was forced to be cancelled. TJ suffered an accidental headbutt in practice which left him with an ugly gash above his eye deeming him unfit to fight this Saturday. After TJ officially withdrew from the fight the UFC began to scramble for a replacement and offered Sandhagen an opportunity to fight Pedro Munhoz. TJ unfortunately but understandably declined and stated, “Yeah, they offered me Munhoz, but I’m just going to wait for Dillashaw to be honest with you, I think that’s a fair decision to make and it’s only a couple of months pushback, so no problem.” So now what, attempt to push up the Donald Cerrone matchup against Diego Sanchez to main event? That's what everyone initially thought was going to happen but once again there is more UFC drama and now Diego Sanchez has retired from the UFC. So with the main event completely canceled and "the Cowboy" left with no opponent how can the UFC possibly salvage this event...add a completely new main event to the card! Finally with less than three days away from the event the UFC has officially announced that the main event for this weekend will be a Strawweight matchup between top contender Marina Rodriguez against Michelle Waterson.

With all the drama that lead up to this weekend in the past , and with a new fight card in place what does Vegas think of these match-ups?

MONEYLINE:

Rodriguez -215

Waterson +175 With only one loss on Marina Rodriguez's record I'm honestly surprised that the line doesn't favor Marina more. During her last outing Marina pulled off an upset over a tough proven opponent in Amanda Ribas. Not only did she win but she was able to finish Ribas with vicious elbows and strikes. But let's not forget, Michelle Waterson is also coming off of what is probably the biggest win of her career over Angela Hill. She was in a tough spot dropping her two previous fights before earning a split decision victory in her last outing and this fight is just as crucial for Waterson as she looks to gain some respect back in the Strawweight division. I believe this will be a battle that mostly takes place in the clinch and on the ground and in both areas Marina has the edge, so my pick for the main event is Marina.

Rodriguez -215

TO GO THE DISTANCE:

Yes -240

No +175

With twenty-five full minutes to supply a finish I believe one of these ladies (most likely Marina) will get the stoppage. Not only is this a five round fight but both woman are fighting on short notice, so the question not only is can one of these woman find a way to finish, but also can both these woman fight for a full twenty-five minutes. With Marina showing strong power in her last outing I'm confident that this fight will not need the judges' scorecards. No +175