Marina Rodriguez reveals her refusal to fight Weili Zhang and admits waiting for the chance to fight for the UFC belt

M. Rodriguez defeated Y. Xiaonan in the UFC 272 (Photo: Instagram/UFC)

With four consecutive victories, Marina Rodriguez seemed to be the next challenger for the strawweight belt (under 52,1kg), but saw the situation change after a controversial statement from Dana White. During publicity of the UFC 275, an event that takes place this Saturday (11), the president of Ultimate stated that Weili Zhang will fight for the belt in the next round after knocking out Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

In an interview with 'Combat', Marina – who was on the spot following the event in Singapore – reveals that he even refused to fight against Weili Zhang eyeing an opportunity for the belt. Still, the Brazilian chooses to wait for the organization's 'next steps'.

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“We have always worked like this. Since I entered the UFC I have always entered with the best and I have never given up a fight. This time, I could be up there in the octagon. The UFC offered me Weili Zhang and we couldn't accept it because I only had two months to train and I had minor injuries and I let Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) take this fight. I'm going to wait and see what happens and, whatever happens, we're going to give everything we have to be able to win”, said Marina.

Third in the rankings, Rodriguez has already faced – and lost – to Carla esparza in a split decision fight, which took place in July 2020. Now, she says she was confident that she would have the chance to 'revenge' for the title, but she understands Dana White's decision.

“I was confident that Carla (Esparza) winning would be an opportunity for me to have a rematch with her for the belt. But, as Dana (White) said, that's not what he's looking for at the moment. I will wait”, he concluded.

Current number three in the strawweight rankings, Marina is going through a great moment in her professional MMA career. With the victory over the Chinese yan xiaonan, the gaucho reached the mark of four consecutive victories in the category led by Namajunas. In his career, there are 16 positive results, one negative and two draws.