![]() ![]() ![]() Waterson gets the opportunity to do just that this weekend in Philadelphia when she squares off with perennial contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz in the middle of Saturday’s main card in “The City of Brotherly Love.”įor Waterson, whose daughter Araya made major social media waves last week with her Girl Scout cookie pitch to Dana White that netted a major order from the UFC President, the ability to put everything together at the right time all comes down to having faith in her skills and trusting in herself fully once the Octagon door closes. I’ve been in the Top 10 for as long as I’ve been in the UFC, so it’s just time for me to go out there, be myself and perform.” “To me, it’s the comfort in the cage and under the lights and having the confidence in my skills as I go into the cage,” Waterson said when asked about the missing piece that can help her take her career to the next level. In each of those contests, there were moments where Waterson looked like the part of an elite fighter capable of challenging for championship gold, but there were also spots where the talented veteran couldn’t pull the trigger and didn’t perform to the best of her abilities. Last year, the Albuquerque resident rebounded with a pair of victories, edging out Cortney Casey in a hard-fought battle that showed her resilience before turning in an even more impressive outing against fellow veteran and Fight Girls cast member Felice Herrig at UFC 229. In 2017, Waterson suffered a pair of losses, first losing to current champion Rose Namajunas and then getting outpointed by Tecia Torres in a fight that was even closer than the final tallies indicate. The 33-year-old’s last two years in the Octagon are a perfect example of that concept. She and her family have defied stereotype, allowing Araya to become the most powerful force behind one of the most successful fighters in the UFC-a fighter who was about to enter the Octagon and launch the biggest night in UFC history.Sometimes promotions go to the wrong people or potential is squandered, while other times, the people just can’t seem to get out of their own way or put everything together at the right time in order to make the leap.Īs far as UFC fighters go, Michelle Waterson is one of those athletes who has established herself as a Top 10 talent, but still continues to show flashes of tantalizing potential that makes you believe a run at the strawweight title is always right around the corner. If her mother had followed the typical MMA playbook, Araya would never have been here at all. But she knew more about rear naked choke holds and straight arm bars than most of the wannabe brawlers surrounding her in the stands.īecause Araya Gomez has never missed one of her mom’s fights. She was easily the youngest and smallest spectator here. Which was why security had assigned a bodyguard, replete with the standard UFC uniform of bald head and long beard, to follow the 7-year-old girl with dark-brown braids as she navigated her way to her seat inside T-Mobile Arena. ![]() It was a heady mix of wealth, alcohol and simmering violence, and rumors of possible brawls circulated in the hours leading up to the big October fight. Throughout the day, diamonds, sheath dresses and slurring Russian accents filled nearly every elevator. Others, with their country’s distinctive green, white and orange flag wrapped around their shoulders, stumbled through the slot machines, yelling at girlfriends and reeking of spilled beer. Irishmen, with their lilting brogue bouncing off the cavernous walls outside the Hakkasan nightclub at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, grappled on the casino floor, oblivious to the fact that the sun was starting to rise. The bodies started falling as early as 6 a.m. But instead of shielding her young daughter from her career, Michelle Waterson is bringing her along every step of the way. Michelle Waterson Reps More Than Herself In The Cage ESPN The Magazine | April 2019 ![]()
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