Michelle E. Waterson (born January 6, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion. As of February 10, 2017, she is ranked #7 in the UFC strawweight division.
Waterson was the #1-ranked pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com and the #1-ranked Atomweight (105 lbs) according to the Unified Women's and Fight Matrix all by the end of 2013.
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Early life
Born in Colorado Springs and raised in Aurora, Waterson is of Thai descent. She began her modeling career in 2004 after she graduated from Aurora Central High School.
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Early martial arts career
A karate student since the age of 10, Waterson holds a black belt in American Free Style Karate and has also trained in WuShu, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and wrestling.
Waterson rose to fame as a contestant on the Muay Thai-themed Fight Girls reality show on the Oxygen television network. She was also featured as one of the fighters in the MTV/MTV2 reality show Bully Beatdown.
Professional mixed martial arts career
Waterson made the transition from ring girl to fighter with the help of Donald Cerrone, and made her MMA debut on February 16, 2007, at Ring of Fire 28: Evolution against Andrea Miller, winning the fight by unanimous decision. She made her debut without having any amateur fights.
She faced Freestyle Cage Fighting champion Lynn Alvarez at Ring of Fire 31: Undisputed on December 1, 2007, but lost by submission in the first round.
Waterson made her Strikeforce debut against Tyra Parker at Strikeforce: Payback on October 3, 2008. She won the fight by rear naked choke submission in the first round.
Waterson faced Karina Taylor at Duke City MMA Series 1 on March 1, 2009. She won the fight by armbar submission in the first round. There was some controversy with this fight because Taylor did not tap out to the armbar.
On April 11, 2009, Waterson fought former WIBA and IFBA Flyweight Boxing Champion Elena Reid at Apache Gold: Extreme Beatdown. Reid won the fight by TKO in the second round.
Waterson faced the debuting Rosary Califano at EB - Beatdown at 4 Bears 6 and won by submission due to a flying armbar in just 15 seconds.
She faced Masako Yoshida at Crowbar MMA: Spring Brawl on April 24, 2010. Waterson won the fight by TKO in the first round.
Waterson returned to MMA on January 21, 2012. She faced Diana Rael at Jackson's MMA Series 7 and won the fight by rear-naked choke in the first round.
Invicta Fighting Championships
Waterson faced Lacey Schuckman at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama on October 6, 2012. After three back and forth rounds, Waterson defeated Schuckman via split decision. The bout was named Fight of the Night.
Waterson challenged for the Invicta FC Atomweight Championship when she faced Jessica Penne in the main event of Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson on April 5, 2013. Waterson won the fight via armbar submission in the fourth round to become the Invicta FC Atomweight Champion. On September 6, 2014, Waterson successfully defended her championship against Yasuko Tamada in the main event of Invicta FC 8 via TKO in the third round.
Waterson next headlined Invicta FC 10 on December 5, 2014, in Houston against Brazilian Hérica Tibúrcio. She lost the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the third round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
On April 28, 2015, it was reported that Waterson had officially signed with the UFC and is expected to compete in the Women's Strawweight division. Waterson made her promotional debut against Angela Magana on July 12, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale. She won the fight via submission in the third round.
Waterson was next expected to meet Tecia Torres at UFC 194. However, she was forced to pull out of the bout on November 24, 2015, citing a knee injury.
After over a year-and-a-half away from the sport due to injuries, Waterson returned in December 2016 to face Paige VanZant in the main event at UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson. She won the fight via technical submission due to a rear-naked choke in the first round. The win also earned Waterson her first Performance of the Night bonus award.
Waterson fought Rose Namajunas on April 15, 2017. at UFC on Fox 24.She lost via rear-naked choke.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Invicta FC
- Atomweight Championship (One time)
- One Successful Title Defense
- Fight of the Night (Two times)
- Women's MMA Awards
- 2013 Atomweight of the Year
- 2013 Fight of the Year vs. Jessica Penne on April 5
- 2014 Fight of the Year vs. Hérica Tibúrcio on December 5
- AwakeningFighters.com WMMA Awards
- 2013 Atomweight of the Year
- 2014 Atomweight of the Year
- FightBooth.com
- 2014 Most Vulgar Display of Power Award (Beatdown of the Year) vs. Yasuko Tamada
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Performance of the Night (One time)
Personal life
On September 16, 2010, Waterson announced that she was pregnant with her first child and recently engaged. She gave birth to a daughter named Araya on March 18, 2011.
Media appearances
In 2008, Knockouts released a calendar featuring her.
She is featured in the music video for Head Crusher, the first single from the Endgame album by the American Metal band Megadeth.
On June 24, 2014, she appeared on American Ninja Warrior but failed to qualify when she fell on the first obstacle.
She was also featured on "Bully Beatdown". She was the central character of the 2016 documentary Fight Mom
Kickboxing record
Mixed martial arts record
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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