Felice Herrig hopes UFC 'does the right thing' and gives her VanZant or Waterson

HOUSTON – The way UFC women’s strawweight Felice Herrig sees the situation, the promotion kind of owes her one when it comes to her next fight.

“I would hope the UFC would do the right thing and give me either Paige or Michelle Waterson,” Herrig (12-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) told MMAjunkie after her upset over Alexa Grasso (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in the co-headliner of UFC Fight Night 104. “I wasn’t vocal about it, but I was offered the Waterson fight (at UFC on FOX 23), and I accepted it, and then two weeks later, I had it taken away from me and given to Paige.”

UFC Fight Night 104 took place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The event’s main card aired live on FS1 after prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight pass.

Paige VanZant, who outpointed Herrig in her second octagon appearance, was choked out by Waterson at the FOX-televised event this past December, bringing the starlet her second octagon setback. That would make Waterson the better career choice, though Herrig would gladly take VanZant for the purpose of exacting revenge.

Herrig said she’s been gunning for Waterson, a former Invicta FC atomweight champ, since they both appeared on the reality show “Fight Girls.”

“I’ve been trying to fight her in a muay Thai fight ever since then,” Herrig said. “When I call these people out, it’s not in a disrespectful way. I feel really confident in myself again, and I would like to climb the ranks.”

After outpointing the undefeated Grasso, Herrig is due for a move up the ranks. A sizable underdog headed into the fight, she outworked Grasso in striking, a range most expected her to avoid in favor of the grappling. A unanimous decision gave her a second straight UFC win after a 15-month layoff she took to clear her head and refocus her efforts.

“In my mind, I knew I wasn’t the underdog, and anyone who was around me knew that I wasn’t the underdog,” Herrig said of her win. “I think I had one bad performance, which clearly I’ve come back from.”

Herrig it took hitting “rock bottom” with a unanimous decision loss to VanZant to turn her career around and change the way she approached fighting. Against Grasso, her extensive appearance showed as an asset and not a liability.

“I think sometimes the veterans get overlooked because we’re not these young, up-and-coming fighters that you can market,” Herrig said. “So we get left behind and forgotten about, and I wanted to prove, hey, I’m here. I never went anywhere.”

Taking out the No. 6 ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings certainly showed that.

“This fight is definitely more satisfying because Grasso was an up-and-comer and I was a 3-1 underdog, and I know she was supposed to beat me, and I got to be the one to stop the undefeated girl,” the unranked Herrig said. “It feels pretty nice.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 104, check out the UFC Events section of the site.