Marina Rodriguez spoke to AG Fight and shed some light on why she won’t be headlining on July 21. Rodriguez, who’s on a two-fight win streak, recently defeated Michelle Waterson. Following her last win, UFC President Dana White revealed plans for having her headline against fellow contender Mackenzie Dern.

However, it appears accepting another short-notice fight when being within arm’s reach of a title shot isn’t on Rodriguez’s radar. She accepted a headlining opportunity against Waterson on 11 days’ notice and doesn’t want to repeat that experience. As Rodriguez is a couple of wins away from a title shot, she understandably isn’t keen on jeopardizing her position.

“The UFC offered us to Mackenzie for July, but I had already warned that we wanted to fight in September or October. As I saw that she wants to fight before, I believe that our fight may not even happen for now.”

“And, of course, after catching a fight (against Michelle Waterson) with 11 days notice, we talked to my trainer Marcio Malko and decided that we would do our complete planning for the next fight, because we know that it is getting closer and closer to the belt and we don’t want to miss this opportunity when it comes,” Rodriguez said. [H/T BJPenn.com]

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Marina Rodriguez: Making a mark

Rodriguez has been blazing a trail in the strawweight division for a while now. She has built up her game over time. She’s ranked number 5 in the division and the only thing going against her is that she lost a split decision to Carla Esparza who is number 3. The razor-thin defeat to ‘Cookie Monster’ means Rodriguez is still a few wins away from a title opportunity.

One of those two fights is expected to be against Dern, if not now, then sometime later. The Brazilian grappling phenom, ranked number 6, is currently riding a 4-fight win streak with three submission wins.

Rodriguez vs Dern, a classic striker vs grappler match-up, will definitely be a defining fight in both women’s careers. Given the high-stakes nature of the match-up, it’s understandable that Marina Rodriguez wants to be entirely prepared for the bout.

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