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Marina Rodriguez has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the women's strawweight division. At the UFC event on July 15, she was going to put her hype on the line when she would lock horns against former UFC straw-weight champion, Carla Esparza.
The fight was an important one for the strawweight division given Esparza had been on a three-fight winning streak and Marina Rodriguez was a rising prospect looking to make a name for herself in the division.
Unfortunately, the fight won't be happening now. Per reports on MMA fighting, the fight between Marina Rodriguez and Carla Esparza was now off of the card on the Fight Island after one of Rodriguez’s corners tested positive for the virus. The report also stated that Marina Rodriguez herself came in negative but the UFC wasn't willing to risk it.
As stated earlier this was an important fight for the division because this was a chance for the two to legitimize their win streak in the UFC, especially for Carla Esparza who had been under scrutiny for securing a controversial win over Michelle Waterson.
Marina Rodriguez had amassed a lot of attention in the past few months given her high volume action fights and was someone fans were looking forward to seeing again. A win over her would seal Carla Esparza as a legit contender for the title.
Not the first fight Marina Rodriguez had to pull out of in 2020
Now that Marina Rodriguez is gone, Carla Esparza still has options. The most obvious is Claudia Gadelha, who after securing a win over Angela Hill even called out Carla Esparza for a rematch. Coincidently, Marina Rodriguez was supposed to fight Claudia Gadelha but she had to pull out of that fight as well.
Marina Rodriguez stands with an undefeated record of 12-0-2. Marina Rodriguez rose to prominence thanks to her stint at Dana White Tuesday Night Contenders. Her UFC record is 2-0-2 which includes a win over former ranked contender, Tecia Torres.
