Michelle Waterson-Gomez Record: 18-13-0

Invicta champion and the Penne classic

The defining win of Waterson-Gomez’s early career came at Invicta FC 5 in April 2013, when she submitted Jessica Penne with a fourth-round armbar to capture the Invicta atomweight title in a bout widely hailed as one of the best women’s fights of its era. The championship run put her on the national radar, and in 2015 she moved up to strawweight and signed with the UFC, submitting Angela Magana with a third-round rear-naked choke on The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.

UFC contender years

Waterson-Gomez’s biggest career moment came at UFC on FOX 22 in December 2016, when she submitted then-rising star Paige VanZant with a first-round rear-naked choke in a main-event spotlight. The step up in competition that followed was unforgiving. She was submitted by future two-time champion Rose Namajunas in 2017 and dropped a decision to Tecia Pennington, then rattled off three straight decision wins over Cortney Casey, Felice Herrig, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz to climb back into contention. A 2019 decision loss to former champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk and a 2020 defeat to Carla Esparza showed the depth of the division, though she answered with a decision win over Angela Hill later in 2020.

Final chapter

The back half of Waterson-Gomez’s career was a grind against elite opposition. She lost twice to Marina Rodriguez, was submitted by Amanda Lemos in 2022, and dropped decisions to Luana Pinheiro and, finally, Gillian Robertson at UFC 303 in June 2024, after which she announced her retirement. She walked away as one of the longest-tenured and most respected women in UFC history.

Fighting style

Waterson-Gomez was a karate-based striker who fought at range with crisp kicks and footwork, then increasingly leaned on a dangerous submission game – nine of her 18 wins came by tap-out. Her finishing ability, particularly the rear-naked choke, made her a threat on the mat against larger strawweights, and her experience and ring IQ kept her competitive deep into a punishing schedule of top-ranked opponents. The trade-off was size: moving up from atomweight, she often gave up reach and power to bigger 115-pounders, which left her on the wrong side of several close decisions in her later years.

Career highlights

• Invicta FC atomweight champion — submitted Jessica Penne with a fourth-round armbar in a celebrated 2013 title bout.
• Main-event submission of Paige VanZant — a first-round rear-naked choke in 2016 that stands as her signature UFC moment.
• Nine career submission wins — a deep finishing game that complemented her karate striking across a 31-fight professional career.