"The strawweight division is up in the air right now" - Michelle Waterson believes "there's a lot of opportunity" now that Rose Namajunas is no longer champion
Michelle Waterson believes the UFC strawweight division has better opportunities now that Rose Namajunas is not the champion.
'Thug Rose' lost the title to Carla Esparza in a lackluster fight in May. The fight only featured 67 significant strikes landed between the two fighters, according to UFC stats.
:#UFC274 Official Result: Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) (49-46, 48-47) def Rose Namajunas (48-47) def by split decision.
All Fight Results ⬇️:
Now that Namajunas lost the title and Joanna Jedrzejczyk retired, the chances of becoming strawweight champion have dramatically increased. During an interview with MMA Junkie, Waterson had this to say about the strawweight division with Esparza as champion:
"The strawweight division is up in the air right now after Carla was able to defeat Rose, so there's a lot of opportunity, and all of us see it, and we're chopping at the bits."
Waterson joined the UFC in 2015 and went 6-4 in the strawweight division. 'The Karate Hottie' decided to move up to flyweight in her last fight, where she lost to Marina Rodriguez by unanimous decision.
The Jackson Wink product now looks to focus on strawweight against Amanda Lemos in the UFC Long Island co-main event on July 16. If Waterson loses, her chances of becoming champion before retiring will decrease exponentially.
Watch Michelle Waterson discuss the UFC strawweight division below:
Michelle Waterson sees the UFC strawweight division as 'one of the most stacked'
Esparza becoming champion the way she did gave most strawweight fighters the belief they could dethrone her. With that said, Namajunas wants revenge, Zhang Weili continues to evolve, with other contenders like Rodriguez getting closer to a title shot.
During the same interview, Waterson had this to say about the stacked strawweight division:
"I feel like the strawweight division in the UFC is one of the most stacked divisions on the female roster, and so you have to look out for everybody, really. I would say from no. 1 to no. 15."
Waterson has fought most of the killers at strawweight, despite never fighting for the UFC title. At 36 years old, 'The Karate Hottie' is running out of time to make her dream come true. UFC Long Island will present her with an opportunity to make a statement at the co-main event and throw her name into future title shot discussions.
#UFCLongIsland update.
- Rowe vs. A.Nurmagomedov off. Rescheduled for a card TBA.
- Quarantillo & Askhabov injured. Algeo vs. Burns now matched-up. https://t.co/lBkcNgdCHY