UFC Fight Night on ESPN 24: Rodriguez vs. Waterson (5/8/2021) - Las Vegas, NV (UFC APEX)

[Elsalvajeloco]

UFC Fight Night on ESPN 24: Rodriguez vs. Waterson 
May 8, 2021
Las Vegas, NV (UFC APEX)

Marina Rodriguez (125.5) vs. Michelle Waterson (125) - Rodriguez, DEC (unanimous)
Donald Cerrone (170) vs. Alex Morono (170.5) - Morono, TKO (strikes), R1 (4:40)
Neil Magny (170.5) vs. Geoff Neal (171) - Magny, DEC (unanimous)
Marcos Rogério de Lima (264.5) vs. Maurice Greene (237) - Lima, DEC (unanimous)
Carlos Diego Ferreira (160.5)* vs. Gregor Gillespie (156) - Gillespie, TKO (punches), R2 (4:51)
Phil Hawes (186) vs. Kyle Daukaus (186) - Hawes, DEC (unanimous)

ESPN+ Preliminary Card:
Ľudovít Klein (146) vs. Mike Trizano (146) - Trizano, DEC (unanimous)
Jun Yong Park (186) vs. Tafon Nchukwi (186) - Park, DEC (majority)
Christian Aguilera (170.5) vs. Carlston Harris (170.5) - Harris, SUB (anaconda choke), R1 (2:52)

*Forfeits 30% of purse for missing weight

Event Bonuses ($50,000)
Performance of the Night: Carlton Harris
Performance of the Night: Alex Morono
Fight of the Night: Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Gregor Gillespie (Gillespie receives both bonuses due to Ferreira missing weight)

Rating: 741,000 viewers

[The Natural]

Well put together video.

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

[J.T.]

I will just have to close my eyes during the Hill - Ribas fight.  I like them both and will be sad for the loser.

Edited May 7, 2021 by J.T.

[The Natural]

18 minutes ago, J.T. said:

I will just have to close my eyes during the Hill - Ribas fight.  I like them both and will be sad for the loser.

Rooting for Ribas.

[J.T.]

Damn you, Natural.

[RIPPA]

Ryan Benoit has been pulled from his fight after well a) missing weight by three pounds and b) looking amazingly unhealthy 

His fight against Zarrukh Adashev has been cancelled

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

[jaedmc]

Ribas and her dad both tested positive for Rona. So that's off.

Bummer.

[J.T.]

Damn.   I was sorta hoping I would enjoy the irony of someone taking the fight on short notice to take on Angie Hill who is famous for taking fights on short noice.

[AxB]

"Everybody always chases the butt"  - Daniel Cormier, 8th May 2021.

[AxB]

So Park vs Nchukwi turned into a sudden bloodbath.

[Elsalvajeloco]

I'm catching up on the prelims. DC has already got in a Kerry Von Erich and Mid South Wrestling reference in. He's trying to do this for Meltzer.

[Elsalvajeloco]

If nothing else, Michelle Waterson is super resilient. 

[J.T.]

Yeah, Rodriguez is a textbook Thai fighter.   Getting hit by her strikes hurts and blocking her strikes hurts.  She just batters you into oblivion.

I thought Waterson had cracked the code with the kicks to the lead leg and the body to maybe set up some takedowns, but Rodriguez's swarm was just too much for her.  

Rodriguez wins the fight but gets her jaw broken by Waterson.

Edited May 9, 2021 by J.T.

[Elsalvajeloco]

That was a good showing for Rodriguez, but she has a style that can be exploited. She kinda rock'em, sock'ems her way through fights. I don't see that working on a Rose Namajunas, who would have the ability to get inside on her.  Waterson also landed a ton of a kicks on her as well including a some nasty ones to the body and legs. I think Marina Rodriguez can overwhelm most of her opponents with volume, but at the tippity top of the division, that's going to be much harder to do.

[Jiji]

Gregor Gillespie drowns opponents with his tempo and pressure. That was an incredible fight.

[Hail Sabin]

Hell of a main event that was a close fight I had it 48-47 MRod. 

[J.T.]

22 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

That was a good showing for Rodriguez, but she has a style that can be exploited. 

The thing about Rodriguez overwhelming you is that she likes to utilize the old boxing tactic of beating on your guard as well as your body.  After a while, holding your hands up to protect yourself becomes problematic and your defense withers.  She's also a rangey fighter, so she can cover a lot of cage distance quickly.

I think the fight with Waterson exposed a lot of holes in Rodriguez's game.  She doesn't really have much takedown defense, she has a very kickable lead leg that she plants when she's on offense, and she is very susceptible to body shots.  The pain from Watterson's side kick to the bread basket really registered on Rodriguez's face and she even retreated a step or two.  If Waterson hadn't been so beaten up, she might've been able to shoot for another takedown at least could've blistered that lead leg some more.

I think the attack that stops Rodriguez begins with hard leg kicks (that RODUIGUEZ DOES NOT CHECK~!!  WHY~??) early in the fight to erode her base and remove the threat of her punches in bunches. 

After that, take her down a few times and mangle her and make sure that any stand-up includes kicks and punches to the body.

Edited May 10, 2021 by J.T.

[Chaos]

On 5/9/2021 at 6:16 AM, J.T. said:

I think the fight with Waterson exposed a lot of holes in Rodriguez's game.  She doesn't really have much takedown defense, she has a very kickable lead leg that she plants when she's on offense, and she is very susceptible to body shots.  The pain from Watterson's side kick to the bread basket really registered on Rodriguez's face and she even retreated a step or two.  If Waterson hadn't been so beaten up, she might've been able to shoot for another takedown at least could've blistered that lead leg some more.

This is why I'm not great at scoring fights. I was a little surprised that the judges scored that bout 4-1 for Rodriguez. She clearly dominated the first 3 rounds, but Waterson clearly won the fourth, and I would have probably given her the 5th as well. Really resilient comeback that looks like a total squash had it been only a 3 round fight.