Michelle ‘The Karate Hottie’ Waterson is among the most beautiful and talented women who compete in the UFC octagon. Today, January 6th, she celebrates her 32nd birthday.
Michelle is currently in the strawweight division of the UFC and is ranked #7. Waterson became more popular after making her debut in Invicta FC in 2012 as an atomweight (105 pounds). ‘The Karate Hottie’ was 9-3 as a professional before that night, after earning a decision win against Lacey Schuckman, she received a title shot against champion Jessica Penne.
Their fight was a back and forth in the early rounds, but in the 4th Michelle took over. Half way through, ‘The Karate Hottie’ secured an armbar and forced Jessica to tap out and relinquish the belt.
In September 2014, Waterson defended the belt against veteran Yasuko Tamada and earned a victory by TKO just two seconds before the third round ended.
After losing the title to Herica Tiburcio in December of 2014, ‘The Karate Hottie’ moved to the UFC. Her debut was in July 2015 when she submitted Angela Magana with a rear-naked choke. This performance brought more attention on her and a few months later was granted the opportunity to headline UFC on FOX as it visited Sacramento in December of 2016.
Her opponent would be a girl of similar popularity and talent, Paige VanZant. The fight was very short, as Waterson choked out VanZant in the first round, earning her fourth victory by rear-naked choke.
2017 was a difficult year for Michelle, for the first time in her career, she suffered back-to-back losses. The first one was at the hands of the current strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas. On April 15th, Waterson found herself on the wrong side of a rear-naked choke and left the octagon defeated. She returned in December, facing Tecia Torres, the fight went the distance and the judges gave the unanimous decision to ‘Tiny Tornado’.
We will have to wait to see what 2018 has in store for Waterson, at least today we hope it was a cake and lots of presents.
Happy birthday, ‘Karate Hottie’!
