“I think it will be a battle of wills,” continued Rodriguez, giving her prediction on how the fight will play out. “If she wants to test her striking, I can guarantee the audience will be the biggest winners, as we will definitely have a fight for the ages, but if she decides to try to take me down, I will be ready for it.
“There is a very good chance the fight won’t make it to Round three — both of us are finishers in our own fields, but I am confident that my hands will be the first ones connecting. That is my main goal in this fight.”
After a year that was a grand departure from the norm, Rodriguez is happy to be beginning her 2021 campaign in the cage in January, hopeful that things will be a little more typical over the next 12 months, and eager to translate the work she and her team have been doing since her last foray to Fight Island into the kind of success that brings her closer to attaining her goal of standing atop the UFC strawweight division.
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“I really would love to have a three-fight year in 2021,” began the Brazilian, “and of course, always facing fighters that are well-ranked in my weight class.
“Above all, a win here solidifies even more the quality of the work that has been done locally in Florianópolis — by my team, Thai Brasil; by my head coach Coach Marcio Malko; by my grappling coach Igor Soares; and by my main training partner, who I believe will soon be in the UFC as a flyweight, Daiana Torquato.
“Everything is working well, and this fight will take us one step closer to our final goal.”
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