ABQ's Waterson, 35, has life goals, and title remains one of them

May 7—Albuquerque's Michelle Waterson has been an MMA fighter for almost 15 years, and she knows there won't be another 15. With her husband, former amateur and pro boxer Joshua Gomez, she's making plans for life after the Octagon.

Even so, as she prepares for Saturday's main-event fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, against Brazil's Marina Rodriguez, her goal in MMA has not changed.

Before she's done, she wants a shot at the UFC strawweight title belt.

"I do think it's important to evaluate the trajectory of your career," Waterson, 35, said in a phone interview. "If you're a smart fighter, you understand how small of a window you have to take advantage of each fight and where it places you in the future. ... That's why the majority of the time when I decide to take a fight, I ask to fight somebody that's above me in the rankings so I can get closer to fighting for that belt."

Rodriguez (13-1-2) qualifies in that regard. She stands sixth, three spots above Waterson (18-8) in the UFC strawweight rankings.

The oddity here is that Saturday's fight will be contested at the 125-pound flyweight limit, not at strawweight (115). That's a concession to the short notice each fighter has had in preparation.

Saturday's main event was to have matched bantamweights TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen, but the fight was scrubbed due to a cut suffered by Dillashaw in training. The Waterson-Rodriguez match was hastily created in its place.

Waterson understands why the fight was made at 125 pounds, especially for Rodriguez, who had to travel to Las Vegas from Brazil. Fights sometimes are made at "catch weights," somewhere between the designated weight limits, "but I don't think they like to do catch weights for main events," Waterson said. "So they asked me if I could do 125, and I said yes."

Waterson is a relatively small 115-pounder to begin with, having competed at the atomweight limit of 105 pounds before signing with the UFC, which does not have an atomweight division. Rodriguez is a career strawweight and has weighed in for previous fights as heavy as 121.

Even so, Waterson doesn't believe she'll step into the Octagon on Saturday at a disadvantage. Strength and technique, she says, beat size every time.

"I don't have to cut weight, so I'm not depleting myself," she said. "There's a point of no return where you try to be the bigger fighter and it becomes a disadvantage to you. You become slower, sluggish. You can't regain the power that you originally had at your walking-around weight.

"I'll take speed and power over size all day."

The longer she's fought, Waterson said, the more she loves and appreciates the sport and being part of it.

"It makes me think about all the life lessons that I've learned from fighting," she said. "It makes me take a moment to stop and smell the roses and really be in the moment for all these cool, fun, adventurous rides that I've been able to go on through my MMA career."

Another adventurous ride: Waterson and Gomez have opened a Thai restaurant, Tako Ten, at Bridges at Tramway and are investors in two more restaurants planned at the same location.

"We've been really extending our roots, getting our restaurants up and open," she said. "We've been really busy."

This week, though, Rodriguez has her full attention.

"The (strawweight) division is on fire," she said. "I know I have what it takes to be the champion, so I've just got to knock out the win (on Saturday)."

COWBOY MILESTONES: Edgewood's Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone's hoped-for grudge match against former Jackson-Wink teammate Diego Sanchez won't happen, Sanchez having been released by the UFC.

Cowboy, though, still can add to his legacy. He'll face Houston's Alex Morono (18-7) in a re-tooled welterweight co-main event.

Cerrone (36-15) began his career in 2004, and the list of records he's approaching or surpassing keeps growing.

His 23 UFC victories are the most in the organization's history, as are his 16 finishes and 20 knockdowns. On Saturday, he'll tie Jim Miller for the most UFC fights at 37. And that's the short list.

CROCHET BOSS, TOO: Heavyweight Maurice Greene (9-5), Waterson's current Jackson-Wink teammate, is matched against Brazil's Marcos Rogerio de Lima (17-7-1) on Saturday. Greene is nicknamed "Crochet Boss" because of his skill with needles and yarn.

The Waterson, Cerrone and Greene fights all are on the main card, scheduled to start at 5 p.m., telecast on ESPN and streamed on espn+.