Michelle Waterson vs Luana Pinheiro Heading to UFC 287 PPV
Michelle Waterson-Gomez(18-6) vs Luana Pinheiro(10-1) bout is headed to UFC 287 card in April 2023.
The news comes from Brett Okamoto who reported that the UFC is finalizing the strawweight bout between Waterson-Gomez and Pinheiro. UFC 287 is not announced officially but it is expected to be a PPV on April 8, 2023.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez has been one of the top fighters in UFC’s women’s division since joining the promotion in 2015. Her UFC record stands at 6-6 but she has faced many top-tier competitors. He most famous wins include a first-round submission win over Paige Vanzant and a decision win over Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
She is 1-4 in her last 5 UFC bouts which includes losses to World Champions like Carla Esparza and Joanna Jędrzejczyk before she defeated Angela Hill. She lost to Marina Rodriguez and most recently to Amanda Lemos at UFC Long Island in July 2022.
On the other hand, Luana Pinheiro is a newcomer with just 2 UFC bouts under her belt. She was signed to UFC after a first-round TKO win in her appearance in Dana White Contender Series in 2020.
Pinheiro made her UFC debut against Randa Markos in May 2021 before beating Sam Hughes in November of that year. Her fight against Jessica Penna was canceled in April 2022. But why she did not fight even once in 2022 remains unknown.
UFC 287 is without a main event or a co-main event after so far. Rob Font vs Adrian Yanez, and Cynthia Calvillo vs Loopy Godinez bout were previously reported for the event.