An injury to Waterson means we’ll have to wait longer for this one.
According to MMA Fighting Amanda Ribas and Michelle Waterson’s strawweight contest at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Daukaus is off. That outlet reports that Waterson has suffered an undisclosed injury meaning she will not facing the Brazilian on March 26.
MMA Fighting further reports that the UFC have decided against finding a new opponent for Ribas. Instead, the fight is being moved to UFC 274—scheduled for May 7.
Waterson and Ribas are ranked eighth and ninth respectively in the UFC strawweight rankings.
Ribas is 11-2 in her career and is coming off a unanimous decision win over former Invicta champion Virna Jandiroba. She took the Jandiroba fight after bouts with Angela Hill, and a previously announced booking with Waterson, all fell through
Prior to that, at UFC 271 in January 2021, she suffered her first ever Octagon loss; at the hands of Marina Rodriguez. Before that she was perfect in four UFC showings, scoring wins over Paige VanZant, Randa Markos and Mackenzie Dern.
Waterson has an 18-9 record. She is coming off her own loss to Rodriguez, a unanimous decision defeat in the main event of UFC Vegas 26 last May. Prior to that she beat Angela Hill by split decision and took losses to former champions Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Waterson has six UFC wins under her belt. Those include a submission over Paige VanZant and decisions against Felice Herrig and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
UFC 274 is expected to be headlined by Charles Oliveira’s lightweight title defence against Justin Gaethje. Also set for the card, which takes place in Phoenix, AZ, is Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon and Ovince St. Preux vs. Mauricio Rua.