Gillian Robertson Record: 17-8-0

Becoming a submission specialist

Robertson's UFC arc quickly took shape around her grappling. After the Whitmire finish, she submitted Molly McCann with a rear-naked choke in May 2018, absorbed an armbar loss to Mayra Bueno Silva, then rattled off finishes of Veronica Hardy and Sarah Frota in 2019. A first-round TKO loss to the unbeaten Maycee Barber was a setback against a hyped prospect, but Robertson answered in 2020 with a third-round rear-naked choke of veteran Cortney Casey and a decision over Poliana Botelho.

Weathering the tough years

The early 2020s brought a rougher patch inside the Octagon, including decision losses to Taila Santos and Miranda Maverick and a loss to JJ Aldrich. But Robertson kept finding her finishes when it mattered, submitting Priscila Cachoeira in the first round at UFC 269 and choking out Mariya Agapova in 2022. She stayed busy on the grappling circuit between fights, including a submission of Rose Namajunas in a Fury Pro Grappling match.

A strawweight resurgence

Dropping to strawweight sparked the best run of Robertson's career. She opened with a 2023 armbar of the previously unbeaten Piera Rodriguez, and after a decision loss to Tabatha Ricci, she reeled off a string of wins: a 2024 TKO of Polyana Viana, a decision over former title challenger Michelle Waterson-Gomez at UFC 303, and a decision over Luana Pinheiro. She kept it rolling with a 2025 TKO of Marina Rodriguez and, in March 2026, the biggest win of her career – a unanimous decision over highly ranked Amanda Lemos that pushed her toward title contention.

Fighting style

Robertson is one of the UFC's premier women's grapplers, a submission hunter who pressures for takedowns and immediately threatens chokes and joint locks. Of her 17 wins, nine have come by submission – the most of any woman in UFC history – with three knockouts and five decisions filling out a finish rate around 71%. Her ground game is genuinely elite, and her striking has visibly sharpened during the strawweight run, with TKO stoppages of Viana and Marina Rodriguez. The honest knock is that polished strikers have out-pointed her on the feet at times, accounting for several decision losses, but her finishing pace makes her a threat to end any fight the moment it hits the canvas.

Career highlights

• UFC women's record for submission wins — Robertson holds the most submission victories of any woman in UFC history, the calling card of "The Savage."
• Biggest win over Amanda Lemos — her 2026 decision over a top-ranked Amanda Lemos stands as the defining result of her strawweight resurgence.
• Finisher in every era — from her TUF Finale armbar of Emily Whitmire to TKOs of Polyana Viana and Marina Rodriguez, she has stayed a finishing threat throughout her run.