Yesterday the UFC announced that UFC on ESPN 2 will be Mar. 30 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. A Michelle Waterson vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz Strawweight bout has been announced. Of course Michelle is a very popular fighter known as The Karate Hottie. She is 33 years old. She trains at Jackson Wink in New Mexico. Her record is 16-6 and 4-2 in the UFC. She is a former Invicta Atomweight champ. And that's her big problem. She is undersized at Strawweight. She is on a two fight winning streak. Karolina is 33 years old from Lodz, Poland. Her record is 12-3 and 5-3 in the UFC. Karolina is a points fighter. She's good at it so she's effective against a certain level of fighter. She even has a win over current champ Rose Namajunas. But her losses are to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Claudia Gadelha and most recently to Jessica Andrade by first round KO. I don't think Michelle hits as hard as Jessica. And I don't think Michelle is an elite fighter at Strawweight though she may be an elite fighter at Atomweight. Karolina is usually effective when she is able to keep her distance and outpoint her opponent. Already some pundits are suggesting the winner of this fight could get a title shot. Not me. It's crowded up there with Tatiana Suarez, Zhang Weili and Livia Renata Souza also in the mix. With a Strawweight title match coming up in May, we may see a couple of title contender eliminators over the summer to set up a title match in the fall. There are other fights coming up that will determine the pecking order. And I like Tatiana, Weili and Livia a whole lot better than either Michelle or Karolina.
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