The UFC took its time in officially announcing a replacement main event for UFC Vegas 26 after the initial headliner, a bantamweight scrap between Cory Sandhagen and former 135-pound champion T.J. Dillashaw fell through. When the promotion announced that the new main event would be a flyweight matchup between top-10 ranked strawweights Marina Rodriguez and Michelle Waterson, it sounded like a strange decision. Strange or not, it turned out to be a good call.
Over the course of five rounds, Rodriguez, who had a size advantage over her opponent, and probably a power advantage with the move to 125 pounds, did her best to finish Waterson.