A dejected Michelle Waterson went on social media Thursday to shed light on the reason her fight with Amanda Ribas has been canceled.
Waterson and Ribas originally were set to meet March 26 at UFC on ESPN 33 until the bout was scrapped after Waterson was forced to withdraw because of an injury. Subsequent reports, including from MMA Junkie, said the fight was rescheduled for May 7 at UFC 274.
Apparently that won’t be happening after Waterson said on Instragram that her injury – while not disclosing the nature of it – can be “career ending” if she doesn’t take care of it. She did not specify if the injury required surgery.
“I’m hoping, keeping my fingers crossed that it is a short break,” Waterson said. “It’s an injury that stopped me from training, and it’s heartbreaking. I was really excited to fight Amanda. I know she was very excited to fight, as well, so hopefully it’s a fight that we can still have. But if I don’t take care of this injury, it will turn into something that can be worse and career ending.”
Waterson (18-9 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has withdrawn from a fight against Ribas (11-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) before. The pair were scheduled to face off at UFC 257, but Waterson pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. Ribas ended up facing Marina Rodriguez instead and lost by second-round knockout. She rebounded from her first octagon setback by defeating Virna Jandiroba this past October at UFC 267.
Waterson, meanwhile, has lost three of her past four bouts, with her lone win in that stretch coming in a “Fight of the Night” win over Angela Hill in the UFC Fight Night 177 main event. She most recently lost to Rodriguez in the UFC on ESPN 24 headliner last May.
