"I'm ready for all of it"- 'The Karate Hottie' Michelle Waterson opens up about her upcoming fight at UFC Vegas 26 [Exclusive]

Michelle Waterson is returning to the octagon seven months after her close split decision win over Angela Hill in September 2020.

UFC Vegas 26 originally featured the returning TJ Dillashaw against Cory Sandhagen as the headliner. But the former had to pull out because of cuts sustained during training. UFC then booked Michelle Waterson and Marina Rodriguez in a flyweight bout for the main event.

🚨 #UFCVegas26 UPDATE 🚨 Flyweights take center stage this weekend.[ 🇧🇷 @Wmmarz vs 🇺🇸 @KarateHottieMMA ] pic.twitter.com/8wcoCdBIOJ

— UFC (@ufc) May 4, 2021

Both fighters normally compete in the strawweight division of the promotion.

---

Michelle Waterson answers questions on her upcoming fight

Ahead of the bout, 'The Karate Hottie' spoke about her preparations for the fight and how she felt about the change in weightclass.

Michelle Waterson was asked if it made a difference that the fight is at 125 lbs. instead of 115 lbs., and whether it had any impact on her training. Her response was:

"There really is no difference. Honestly, I have the ability to keep the pace that I do in round one, two and three in round four and five. I do train in Albuquerque which is high altitude. My strength and conditioning coach has been working really hard on my explosive movements and my endurance. And so I'm looking forward to getting in there and being able to perform. Whether I take her out first, or if we go all five rounds, I'm ready for all of it."

When asked about commenting on featuring in yet another UFC main event, Michelle Waterson stated:

"This will be my fourth UFC main event, so it's my fourth time going in with five rounds. I went to five rounds with Joanna Jedrzejczyk and I went five rounds with Angela Hill, two very high-paced fighters. I feel like the more rounds we have, the more it plays in to my game."

The final question was about her thoughts on Rose Namajunas taking back the strawweight belt at UFC 261, scoring a stellar knockout win over former champion Zhang Weili, to which Michelle Waterson said:

"I was really excited to watch those two ladies. Like I tell everybody, I am bummed for Weili because I know she trained really hard so that she can have an exciting fight. But Rose was just so precise with her movements in that second and was able to catch her greatness. So you can't be mad at her setup, it was just flawless."

Michelle Waterson goes up against Marina Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Vegas 26 on Saturday.

Watch UFC Fight Night – Rodriguez Vs Waterson on May 9, 2021, LIVE on Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 3 channels from 5:30 AM IST.