Marina Rodriguez is looking to fight Joanna Jedrzejczyk next time out.
On Saturday, Rodriguez beat Mackenzie Dern in the main event of UFC Vegas 39 in a rather one-sided fight outside of the second round. It was her second straight UFC main event decision win and now is likely a win away from a title shot and eyes a fight with the former champ, Jedrzejczyk. However, the Brazilian also took a shot at the former champ for being inactive and holding her spot in the rankings.
“Honestly, Joanna’s already said she doesn’t want to fight me,” Rodriguez said about Jedrzejczyk after the fight (via MMAFighting). “Let’s be honest, she shouldn’t even be ranked anymore at this point. She’s been out of action for so long and if she doesn’t want to fight me, I guess I don’t want to fight her, too.
“The problem is she’s holding a very important spot in the rankings and there’s so many girls there fighting twice a year, three times a year, trying to get to that and that spot is locked,” Rodriguez continued. “If it’s not her, [Yan Xioanan] would be a good fight, she’s ahead anyways so that’s how I have to keep moving. Just keep moving forward and if the title fight happens and they want to defend quickly, give it to Carla after that. Maybe I can fight again, cool. If not, just give me someone else and we’ll keep on moving.”
With the win, Marina Rodriguez will enter the top-five at strawweight and is now on a three-fight winning streak. She has a case for a title shot, but she knows others deserve it ahead of her so the Brazilian is looking to stay active.
“We know once someone defends the title it’s going to be at least six months before they fight again,” Rodriguez explained. “So that puts me in a tough spot because if I’m going to wait for it too, we’re talking about a year [long layoff]. There’s a bunch of girls ahead of me. If I’m not next in line, I’d have to fight someone else and there’s a lot of interesting fights ahead.”
