15-Time UFC Veteran Michelle Waterson-Gomez Announces Retirement

Michelle Waterson-Gomez is calling it a career.

The 15-time Octagon veteran announced her retirement following a unanimous decision loss to Gillian Robertson in a preliminary strawweight contest at UFC 303 on Saturday night. “The Karate Hottie” broke down in tears in the Octagon as the promotion played a tribute video on the big screen at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The loss to Robertson was her fifth straight defeat.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the UFC and all you fans continuing to push me. Fighting runs through my veins. It’s made me who I am,” Waterson-Gomez said. “When you fight, you chase greatness.”

The 38-year-old Waterson-Gomez compiled an 18-13 mark over the course of a professional MMA career that began in 2007. She captured the Invicta FC atomweight crown in 2013 and defended that title once before relinquishing the belt to Herica Tiburcio in 2014.

The Jackson-Wink MMA product would then win five of her first seven UFC appearances, besting the likes of Paige VanZant, Felice Herrig and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Waterson-Gomez would struggle from that point forward, losing seven of her last eight fights within the Las Vegas-based promotion.