UFC Fight Night predictions — Marina Rodriguez vs. Michelle Waterson: Fight card, odds, start time, stream

Saturday’s UFC Fight Night felt at times as though it would completely fall apart, with fight after fight dropping off the card. The show will go on, however, with Marina Rodriguez taking on Michelle Waterson in the main event from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Rodriguez vs. Waterson was finally settled on for the main event after the originally planned main event between TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen was delayed after Dillashaw suffered a cut in training. Other potential main events also fell through when a bout between Holly Holm and Julianna Pena as well as a planned fight between Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez were canceled. In Cerrone’s case, he remains on the card, now facing late-replacement Alex Morono in the welterweight co-main event.

Despite both women normally competing at strawweight, the fight between Rodriguez and Waterson takes place in the women’s flyweight division.

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“I’m excited about it,” Waterson told Morning Kombat of the late-notice opportunity to main event. “I got the news and I got the opportunity and it was playing with my emotions. Everything was kind of up in the air, ‘Yes, you’re fighting. No, you’re not fighting.’ Then, I got the opportunity and they said main event May 8. I just remember thinking that I could look at this like a last-minute unsure thing, or I could look at this as destiny and it being meant to be as a challenge that’s going to allow me to rise to the occasion and allow me to capitalize on the moment.”

Rodriguez enters the fight riding the momentum of a big TKO win over Amanda Ribas in January, a victory that got her back in the win column after suffering the first loss of her career when she was on the wrong side of a split decision against Carla Esparza in July 2020.

Waterson is also looking to build a winning streak. After losing back-to-back fights, Waterson managed to edge out a split decision victory over Angela Hill in their September 2020 clash.

Here’s the fight card for UFC Fight Night with the latest odds from William Hill Sportsbook.

UFC Fight Night card, odds

UFC Fight Night viewing information

Date: May 8 | Start time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: UFC Apex — Las Vegas, Nevada
TV Channel: ESPN | Stream: fuboTV (try for free)

Prediction

Michelle Waterson vs. Marina Rodriguez: While Waterson remains something of a fan favorite, she has looked increasingly vulnerable in the past few years of her career. Rodriguez’s biggest issue is that she often doesn’t make a clear statement in her fights, resulting in two draws and a split decision loss in her previous six bouts. Rodriguez has simply performed better than Waterson in recent years and the odds reflect the expectation that she will be able to simply outwork Waterson round over round to edge out the win. Pick: Rodriguez via unanimous decision