Michelle Waterson-Gomez is an American mixed martial artist, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion and between 2013 and 2014 was ranked the women’s number one atomweight fighter in the world. Michelle Waterson-Gomez has a black belt in American freestyle karate and a Brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which brought her the nickname Karate Hottie. Her personal MMA record is 18-12-0 (W-L-D).
Michelle Waterson-Gomez was born on January 6, 1986, in Aurora, Colorado, United States. She is of European and Thai descent. She started initially in modeling but later turned to sports. Her early interest in gymnastics, and inability to pay for classes, led her to karate at the age of ten. She also trained in wushu, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, and wrestling.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez made her professional MMA debut in 2007 versus Andrea Miller at the ROF 28 – Evolution. She won the fight via unanimous decision. By the end of the season, she had three more fights – one victory versus Jaime Cook at the ROF 30 – Domination (via armbar submission in the first round) and two losses versus Alicia Gumm at the RMBB – Battle of the Arts (via unanimous decision) and Lynn Alvarez at the ROF 31 – Undisputed (via guillotine choke submissions in the first round).
Michelle Waterson-Gomez continued fighting professionally in 2008 but was quite more successful recording three victories. She defeated Thricia Poovey at the KOTC – Badlands via TKO in the second round, Krystal Macatol at the SCA – Duke City Bike and Brawl 2 via armbar submission in the first round, and Tyra Parker at the Strikeforce – Payback via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
In 2009, Michelle Waterson-Gomez finished Karina Taylor at the DCMMAS – Duke City MMA Series 1 via technical armbar submission in the first round, but later during the season lost to Elena Reid at the AG – Extreme Beat Down via TKO in the second round.
In 2010, Michelle Waterson-Gomez continued with victories at the professional MMA OCtagor, defeating Rosary Califano at the EB – Beatdown at 4 Bears 6 via flying armbar submission in the first round, and Masako Yoshida at the Crowbar MMA – Spring Brawl via TKO in the first round.
She missed the 2011 season, but in January 2012 smashed Diana Rael at the Jackson’s MMA Series 7 via rear-naked choke submission in the first round. She signed with Invicta FC during the year and debuted for the fighting championships in October, taking the victory versus Lacey Sears at Invicta FC 3 via split decision.
In 2013, Michelle Waterson-Gomez challenged for the Invicta FC Atomweight Championship when she faced Jessica Penne in the main event of Invicta FC 5. She won the fight via armbar submission in the fourth round to become the Invicta FC Atomweight Champion.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez defended her title in September 2014, defeating Yasuko Tamada at the main event of the Invicta FC 8 via TKO in the third round. However, later in the year, she lost to Herica Tiburcio at the main event of the Invicta FC 10 via guillotine choke submission in the third round, thus losing her title.
In 2015, Michelle Waterson-Gomez signed with the UFC to compete in the Women’s Strawweight division. She made her UFC debut in July 2015 facing Angela Magana at the UFC – The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale. Michelle Waterson-Gomez won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the third round.
She suffered a knee injury, which took her out of sport for one and a half years. However, in December 2016, Michelle Waterson-Gomez returned to the Octagon and faced Paige VanZant in the main event of the UFC on Fox 22. She won the fight via technical rear-naked choke submission in the first round. The win earned her first Performance of the Night bonus award.
In 2017, Michelle Waterson-Gomez recorded two losses at the UFC to Rose Namajunas at the UFC on Fox 24 via rear-naked choke submission and Tecia Torres at the UFC 218 via unanimous decision.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez returned to the wins in the next year, defeating Cortney Casey at the UFC on Fox 29 via split decision and Felice Herrig at the UFC 229 via unanimous decision.
In 2019, she defeated Karolina Kowalkiewicz at the UFC on ESPN 2 via unanimous decision and lost to Joanna Jedrzejczykat in the main event of the UFC Fight Night 161 via unanimous decision.
In 2020, Michelle Waterson-Gomez lost to Carla Esparza at the UFC 249 via a split decision but later in the year won versus Angela Hill at the main event of the UFC Fight Night 177 via a split decision.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez registered another loss via unanimous decision on May 8, 2021, to Marina Rodriguez at the main event of the UFC on ESPN 24.
In 2022, she continued her negative series, losing to Amanda Lemos at the UFC on ABC 3 via guillotine choke submission, while in the next year, she lost to Luana Pinheiro at the UFC 287 via split decision and to Marina Rodriguez at the UFC Fight Night 228 via TKO in the second round.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez photos
