Michelle Waterson has an interesting story. 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.
She has notable victories against Angela Magana and Paige Van Zant.
Still her most recent loss came by way of rear naked choke as performed by the new division champion Rose Namajunas. As such it’s no surprise Waterson is kicking up her bjj training a bit. She was awarded purple belt over the summer under Rafael Freitas:
Waterson is also booked to fight Tecia Torres – December 2nd.
Waterson hasn’t fought since April – which she recently addressed to mmalatestnews:
Ā Anytime youāre not fighting you should still be training, those are the times when I feel like I learn the most. We had so much going on this year after my fight with Paige (VanZant), we had the ESPYās, we went to Singapore and Mexico, and I was on MTVās reality show āThe Challengeā to raise awareness for one of my favourite charities, MVP.
MVP (Merging Vets with Players) is a charity that was founded by Jay Glazer in 2015. Their main aim is taking former military veterans who are struggling with adjusting to civilian life, and match them up with former professional athletes, to create a new community.
In her fight against Namajunas at UFC Kansas City, the scores were even until Namajunas landed a head kick that dropped Waterson. Shortly after, Namajunas secured a rear-naked choke that forced Waterson to tap. I asked Michelle whether her memory of the fight was clear, or if the head kick altered her recollection.
