Claudia Gadelha gets wish, meets Marina Rodriguez at UFC Oklahoma City

Not long after telling MMA Junkie she wanted the fight, Claudia Gadelha got her wish for a matchup with Marina Rodriguez, which is the latest addition to May’s UFC Oklahoma City lineup.

UFC officials announced on Wednesday the bout between Gadelha (17-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Rodriguez (13-0-2 MMA, 2-0-2 UFC).

UFC Oklahoma City takes place May 2 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma. The main card streams on ESPN+ following prelims expected on ESPN.

Gadelha, No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA strawweight rankings, was supposed to fight Alexa Grasso at UFC 246 in January, but the fight was called off on weigh-in day when Grasso missed weight by 5.5 pounds. She hoped for a quick turnaround, but will have to wait until May to build off the momentum of her decision win over Randa Markos at UFC 239.

No. 12-ranked Rodriguez will get the chance to make a leap up the rankings when she takes on a former title challenger. She’s unbeaten four fights into her octagon tenure, but that includes the statistical oddity two draws, the latest of which came against Cynthia Calvillo at UFC on ESPN 7 in December.

The latest UFC Oklahoma City card now includes:

Sarah Alpar vs. Duda Santana
Claudia Gadelha vs. Marina Rodriguez