UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson
The poster for UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	May 8, 2021 (2021-05-08)
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Enterprise, Nevada, United States
Attendance	None (behind closed doors)[1]
Event chronology
UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Procházka UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson UFC 262: Oliveira vs. Chandler

UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson (also known asUFC on ESPN 24 andUFC Vegas 26) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 8, 2021, at theUFC Apex facility inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.^[2][3]

A bantamweight bout between former two-timeUFC Bantamweight ChampionT.J. Dillashaw andCory Sandhagen was expected to serve as the main event.^[4] It would be Dillashaw's first fight since his two-year suspension due to testing positive forrecombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), which resulted in his title vacancy.^[5][6] However, Dillashaw announced on April 27 that he had to pull out of the fight due to a cut he received from a headbutt in training.^[7] Sandhagen was removed from the card as well, with the pairing remaining intact and rescheduled at a future event.^[8] A women's flyweight bout between formerInvicta FC Atomweight ChampionMichelle Waterson andMarina Rodriguez served as the new main event instead.^[9] The pairing usually fights at strawweight, but due to the short notice of the booking, they met at a weight class above.^[10]

A women's bantamweight bout between formerUFC Women's Bantamweight ChampionHolly Holm andThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate bantamweight winnerJulianna Peña was scheduled for the event.^[11] However, Holm was forced to withdraw from the bout citinghydronephrosis.^[12] In turn, Peña was also removed from the card in favor of a title bout against current championAmanda Nunes (also theUFC Women's Featherweight Champion) atUFC 265.^[13]

A heavyweight bout betweenBen Rothwell andPhilipe Lins was expected to take place atUFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad, but it was canceled due to an injury to Rothwell.^[14] The pairing was then rescheduled for this event.^[15] While Rothwell made weight without issue, Lins never showed up to the weigh-ins and withdrew from the bout due to an illness.^[16]

A welterweight bout betweenNeil Magny andGeoff Neal was originally scheduled to take place atUFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Rakić, but Neal withdrew from the event due to a severe case ofpneumonia that evolved tosepsis.^[17] The pairing took place at this event.^[18]

FormerUFC Women's Flyweight Championship challengerRoxanne Modafferi was expected to faceTaila Santos in a women's flyweight bout.^[19] However, Modafferi was forced to pull out due to ameniscus tear a month before the event and the bout was scrapped.^[20]

Jimmy Flick was expected to faceFrancisco Figueiredo in a flyweight bout at this event.^[21] However on April 10, Flick announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.^[22] Figueiredo was then expected to face JP Buys.^[23] Buys eventually got injured and also had to pull out. He was replaced byMalcolm Gordon and the new pairing is expected to take place atUFC Fight Night 192 instead.^[24]

Nikolas Motta andDamir Hadžović were expected to meet in a lightweight bout.^[25] However, Motta pulled out in mid-April due to an injury^[26] In turn, Hadžović was rescheduled and is expected to faceYancy Medeiros two weeks later atUFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt.^[27]

FormerUFC Lightweight Championship challenger andThe Ultimate Fighter 1 middleweight winnerDiego Sanchez was expected to face fellow lightweight title challengerDonald Cerrone in a welterweight bout.^[28] However, Sanchez was removed from the fight on April 28 after being released by the UFC.^[29] He was replaced byAlex Morono.^[30]

At the weigh-ins,Carlos Diego Ferreira andRyan Benoit missed weight for their respective bouts. Ferreira weighed in at 160.5 pounds, four and a half pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 30% of his purse, which went to his opponentGregor Gillespie.^[31] Benoit weighed in at 129 pounds, three pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit. His bout withZarrukh Adashev was cancelled by theNevada State Athletic Commission due to health concerns.^[32]

A women’s strawweight bout betweenAmanda Ribas and formerInvicta FC Strawweight ChampionAngela Hill was expected to take place at the event.^[33] However, their bout was scrapped just hours before the event started due to Ribastesting positive for COVID-19.^[34]

^[35]

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.^[36]

• Fight of the Night: Gregor Gillespie vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira¹
• Performance of the Night: Alex Morono and Carlston Harris

^ 1. Ferreira was disqualified for the Fight of the Night bonus due to missing weight, as a result his award was given to Gillespie.

• List of UFC events
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• May 2021 sports events in the United States
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• Ultimate Fighting Championship events in Enterprise, Nevada

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