Michelle Waterson vs. Tecia Torres booked for UFC 218

Tecia Torres has been asking for a karate vs. karate matchup and that’s what she’s going to get.

Torres will take on Michelle Waterson at UFC 218 on Dec. 2 in Detroit, the UFC confirmed with MMA Fighting on Tuesday. ESPN first reported the big strawweight fight.

Torres (9-1) called out Waterson after a second-round submission win over Juliana Lima at the TUF 25 Finale in July. That was the most impressive finish of Torres’ career and Waterson and she share a martial arts base: karate. Torres, 28, has won two in a row overall and only has one official career loss, to Rose Namajunas last year.

Waterson (14-5), who is becoming of the most popular fighters in the UFC, was angling for a title shot when Namajunas knocked her off at UFC on FOX 24 in April. “The Karate Hottie” was on a two-fight winning streak at the time. Waterson, 31, is a veteran of MMA with 10 years in the sport under her belt and is the the former Invicta FC atomweight champion.

The JacksonWink MMA product appeared this year on ESPN’s “Body Issue” and it was announced last week that she’d be competing on MTV’s “The Challenge.”

UFC 218 features a featherweight title fight between champion Max Holloway and former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. Also on the card, Alistair Overeem meets Francis Ngannou in a battle of heavyweight sluggers and Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje lock up in a contest of fighters known for action bouts.