Tag: Michelle Waterson

UFC strawweight contender Michelle Waterson has to withdraw from her upcoming fight against Amanda Ribas due to a serious injury.

Waterson was supposed to face Ribas on the upcoming UFC 274 card before suffering an injury in her camp. The details of the injury aren’t, clear and it’s also uncertain if she’ll require surgery.

Waterson took to her Instagram to announce the heartbreaking news to her fans.

“I’m hoping, keeping my fingers crossed that it is a short break,” Waterson said. “It’s an injury that stopped me from training, and it’s heartbreaking. I was really excited to fight Amanda. I know she was very excited to fight, as well, so hopefully it’s a fight that we can still have. But if I don’t take care of this injury, it will turn into something that can be worse and career ending.” (h/t Yahoo Sports)

After getting word of Waterson’s withdrawal, Ribas posted a comment on the Instagram video in support of her originally scheduled opponent.

“Heyy Michelle!” Ribas said. “Good recovery for you. Hope we can reschedule soon.”

Waterson has lost three of her last four fights and has had four different fights canceled since early 2020. She fell to Marina Rodriguez via unanimous decision in a flyweight headliner last May.

What is your reaction to Michelle Waterson’s potentially career-ending injury?

Michelle Waterson and Amanda Ribas will finally be sharing the Octagon with one another.

Waterson and Ribas were booked to fight one another at UFC 257 in January on Fight Island but “The Karate Hottie” was forced out of the bout. Since then, Ribas has called her out a few times and now according to MMAFighting, they will fight one another on a Fight Night card on March 26. The location of the event has not been announced.

Michelle Waterson (18-9) is coming off a decision loss to Marina Rodriguez back in May, which served as the main event of the card. Prior to that, she earned a split decision win over Angela Hill which was also the main event. The victory snapped her two-fight losing skid after dropping a split decision to Carla Esparza and a five-round main event decision loss to Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

Waterson is currently ranked ninth at strawweight and does hold notable wins over Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Paige VanZant, Jessica Penne, and Cortney Casey among others.

Amanda Ribas (11-2) returned to the win column back at UFC 267 as she earned a hard-fought decision win over Virna Jandiroba. In the fight prior, she was knocked out by Marina Rodriguez, who took the fight on short notice after Waterson was forced out of the scrap. The Brazilian is ranked 10th and started her UFC career out 4-0 with wins over Mackenzie Dern, Paige VanZant, Randa Markos, and Emily Whitmire.

Currently, only two fights are official on the March 26 card which sees Jan Blachowicz take on Aleksandar Rakic in the main event at light heavyweight. Sara McMann will also battle Karol Rosa.

Who do you think will win, Michelle Waterson or Amanda Ribas?