Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson hasn’t seen as much action inside the Octagon as she would have liked. The former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion debuted for the UFC in 2015, submitting Angela Magana at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.
Since then however, Waterson has remained largely under the radar.
That all changed with her scintillating first round submission victory over the highly-regarded Paige “12-Gauge” VanZant.
The 30-year-old Waterson (14-4) needed just a little over three minutes to take care of 22-year-old VanZant (7-3), winning by Rear Naked Choke at 3:21 of the first round.
Two Epic Beauties Did Battle Inside The Octagon
The two did battle in the main event of UFC on Fox 22 which took place Saturday, December 17 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
“I want to thank [VanZant] for giving me this opportunity to come here and headline this event,” said Waterson after the fight. “ “My daughter told me I would be her favorite fighter if I won tonight, so I had to make it happen.
“I’ve been in the gym every day, injured or not, waking up before I had to take my daughter to school so I could get the workouts in that I needed to show the world what I can do in the UFC.”
Waterson, who holds a black belt in Karate, utilized her trademark kicks from her Karate side stance. The Asian-American tagged VanZant with a plethora of right hands as her opponent attempted to clinch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxsh4HBvueQ
Michelle Waterson Needed Less Than A Round To Submit Paige VanZant
From the clinch however, Waterson caught VanZant in a headlock and proceeded to execute a Judo hip toss, landing in side control. From there Waterson swiftly took VanZant’s back and secured the hooks to force the RNC finish.
Amazingly, VanZant refused to tap out and she ended up taking a nap in the process.
With the win, Waterson earns her ninth submission victory. Waterson had spent the past year battling various injuries, and had to pull out of multiple fights.
Just a day earlier, Waterson and VanZant also featured in an epic dance-off at the official weigh-ins.
