Did Michelle Waterson-Gomez break Marina Rodriguez's jaw during their UFC Vegas 26 showdown?

Marina Rodriguez did not attend the post-event press conference due to the injury she suffered in the main event bout against Michelle Waterson-Gomez.

Both fighters put up dominant performances despite the fight being on extremely short notice. Rodriguez clearly dished out the majority of the punishment in the first three rounds but had to power through a late comeback attempt by 'The Karate Hottie' in the fourth and fifth rounds.

At one point, a well-placed head kick from Waterson resulted in Rodriguez suffering a swollen jaw. The cage side commentators speculated about whether the Brazilian had sustained a broken jaw.

However, Rodriguez's manager Tiago Okamura later clarified over Twitter that there were no serious injuries. The head kick had caused her to bite the insides of her cheek, which led to the swelling.

"No serious injury there, jaw is fine. She bit her cheek when she got kicked and it swole up. Doctors just told her to put some ice on it," Okamura said in response to a tweet by MMA Fighting's Damon Martin.

No serious injury there, jaw is fine. She bit her cheek when she got kicked and it swole up. Doctors just told her to put some ice on it.

— Tiago Okamura (@TiagoOkamura) May 9, 2021

Despite the late punishment from Waterson-Gomez, Marina Rodriguez did enough in the fight to take home a unanimous decision win. The scorecards read 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47, with Rodriguez picking up her second straight victory in the UFC since her loss to Carla Esparza. She had scored a second-round TKO win over Amanda Ribas in the previous fight at UFC 257.

---

Marina Rodriguez will take on Michelle Waterson-Gomez in the rematch

Marina Rodriguez will once again share the UFC octagon with Michelle Waterson-Gomez on the main card of UFC Fight Night 228 on September 23, 2023. The event takes place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A lot has changed since the first fight between these two women. Rodriguez went on to string together a four-fight winning streak in the UFC that got her closer to the title shot than ever. However, back-to-back losses against Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba have derailed her momentum. The 36-year-old will attempt to put together another streak starting with a potential win in the Waterson rematch.

Meanwhile, Michelle Waterson-Gomez has not been able to secure a win since defeating Angela Hill in September 2020. She is coming off three straight losses against Marina Rodriguez, Amanda Lemos, and Luana Pinheiro. Her most recent performance, against Pinheiro, came at the UFC 287 PPV event in April 2023.