Michelle Waterson-Gomez has plenty to look forward to after authoring a career any fighter would be proud of.
Over her 17-year pro run, Waterson-Gomez headlined UFC events, won an atomweight championship with Invicta FC, and stepped into the cage with a who’s who of the best female fighters in the world. At UFC 303, she announced her retirement following a loss to Gillian Robertson.
Waterson-Gomez, 38, isn’t sure what’s next for her now that her cagefighting days are over. But she’s happy that they are.
“I don’t know,” Waterson-Gomez recently said on The MMA Hour when asked if she will ever fight again. “At the moment, I’m really content with walking away. I’m content with turning the page and taking a step forward into this new chapter. I’m really excited. I’d love to get into acting, I’d love to get into broadcasting. I’d love to be on the other side of it.”
“I’d love to coach some of my teammates to greatness. I’d love to help other female athletes, businesswomen, and mothers pursue their dreams. I want to be in their corner for that.”
“I’m still a brown belt in jiu-jitsu; I want to get my black belt. Whether or not that involves having to compete, we shall see. But at the moment, I’m just pretty content with just being mommy.”
The writing was on the wall for Waterson-Gomez to step away from competition, as her loss to Robertson marked her fifth straight setback. A skid dating back to September 2020.
Though “The Karate Hottie” regularly went toe-to-toe with the likes of Hall of Fame inductee Joanna Jedrzejczyk and two-time UFC strawweight champions Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas, wins over elite competition were few and far between as her career progressed.
One of Waterson-Gomez’s most notable triumphs occurred early in her career when she defeated Jessica Penne in an instant classic in April 2013 to become Invicta’s 105-pound champion. The then-27-year-old battled back and forth with Penne before scoring a dramatic armbar submission in the fourth round.
To this day, she considers it one of her crowning achievements.
“That was the time where I bit down on my mouthpiece and shut the world out and just believed in myself,” Waterson-Gomez said. “I was a 10-to-1 underdog against Jessica Penne and nobody thought that I could win that belt.”
“She was bigger, she was a brown belt in jiu-jitsu at the time; I was a white belt. Just had my daughter. Everything was stacked against me, but I knew — I knew in my heart that I was going to win.”
“It didn’t matter how and I didn’t have a specific way how. I just knew that I was going to win.”
“It was a war. It was back and forth.”
“At one point she was on top of me, ground-and-pounding me, raining down punches trying to split me open.”
“I just remember looking over at my husband and he was just telling me, ‘Calm down. You’re fine.’”
“I reversed that position and came out in the next round and finished her by submission.”
“It all came to a head. I was kind of numb after the ref pulled us apart.”
“I remember standing up and just dropping right back to my knees, thinking about all the hard work that had built up to that moment. So that was a beautiful moment for me, for sure.”
Waterson-Gomez followed the Penne win with another strong performance against Yasuko Tamada — “I was a savage in that fight,” she said — defeating Yamada by third-round TKO to defend her title.
Two fights later, Waterson-Gomez made her UFC debut with a submission of Angela Magana. This set her up for her first UFC main event against Paige VanZant at a show in Sacramento, Calif., in December 2016.
She needed less than a round to choke Paige VanZant out.
“I love my fight against Paige VanZant because I was out for about a year and a half going through — I broke my hand in my UFC debut,” Waterson-Gomez said.
“But it didn’t matter because I won.”
“After that, it was a series of hand breaks,” she added.
“So it was like, ‘Gosh, I just got signed to the UFC and I keep breaking my hand!’ Every time I got a fight, it was like two weeks getting ready to fight and then my hand would break again.”
“So it went from me getting signed to the UFC, riding this incredible high, to nobody knowing who I was.”
“My hand was broken; maybe I need to stop fighting; paying all these medical bills.”
“Then I got slated to fight Paige VanZant and then it was the main event at this incredible new stadium.”
“Huge opportunity,” she emphasized.
“And that fight just all seemed to fall in line perfectly.” They call it zen flow.
Call it whatever you want; that’s what it was for me.
Everything happening in slow motion; seeing her movement; everything falling into place how it needed to.
I secured the submission; got Performance of the Night; brought extra money home — meant most because out for year-and-a-half costing family money.
So that fight also very meaningful as well.”
At this moment? No plans for more memories as competitor though expects involvement with fight game somehow.
Pride herself on always making time for MMA fans doesn’t see why that has to change now retired.
“Fingers crossed,” Waterson-Gomez said. “I’ll be able to be in back in different arena.”
“Love getting into broadcasting,” she added.
“Love still touching magic; part of MMA world; nothing like it.”
“Competing? Locker room nerves? Crowd roar? Bruce Buffer screaming name? Joe Rogan interviewing?”
“All those things taken for granted,” she reflected.
“Fans stopping me? Asking pictures/autographs? Priceless moments.”
“Grateful for those moments.”
