WASHINGTON – Marina Rodriguez left the octagon with her undefeated record still intact, but was denied her win bonus after the judges rendered a majority draw verdict following her bout with Cynthia Calvillo.
Backstage after the fight, Rodriguez (12-0-2 MMA, 2-0-2 UFC) said she thought she should have received the nod from the judges.
“I think I did enough to win the fight,” she said through a translator. “All the striking that happened in the fight was won by me. She won the grappling side, but it wasn’t as much considering how much striking there was. But at the end of the day, I was grappling with a 125-pound grappler, and that made a huge difference.”
The last point was in reference to Calvillo (8-1-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) coming in 4.5 pounds over the 116-pound strawweight limit. It clearly rankled with the Brazilian, who admitted she did discuss the possibility of refusing to take the fight before opting to go ahead with the bout.
“It’s something that we did discuss, but not really in depth because at the end of the day, I trained and I came here to fight,” she said. “It didn’t matter that she was heavier. I came here to fight, and that’s a problem between her and the UFC now on how they’re going to sort that out.
“But we knew there was a huge risk. I was fighting a grappler who was way heavier than me, and if it did come to the ground we knew there was going to be a problem. And I was putting so much on the line. I was ranked higher than her. I’m still undefeated. I put that on the line, and I hope the UFC looks at that and takes it into consideration the next time they think about me next time around.”
When asked about the possibility of a rematch between the pair, Rodriguez firmly shut the door on the suggestion.
“No, I don’t see the point of having a rematch right now,” she said. “The main thing is I want to fight someone who can make the weight next time around. So there’s no point fighting against a flyweight again.
“The big thing is, our only job is to make weight. That’s the one thing. We sign the paperwork, then we’ve got to come in and make the weight. If we come there, put on a (expletive) fight, if we lose or win, whatever happens after that, it’s OK. All we have to do is make the weight.”
After a frustrating end to her fight week that left her with a draw on her record and a suspected broken hand, Rodriguez said she just wants to move onward and upward to new challenges as she targets the top names in the UFC strawweight division.
“I went in there, I did my job, fought a much heavier opponent, and now we’re at the mercy of the UFC and we’ll wait and see what they’re thinking about and when they can have me back,” she said. “I’ve got to check my hand, too – so that’s probably the first thing to think about.
“The big thing is, I’m happy I showed that I evolved in this fight, and I’m going to keep on doing that. If I’m OK, I plan on being back in the gym by Monday and keep on working and keep getting better. In my heart, I still think I won.”