Gillian Robertson stayed true to her craft on Saturday at UFC 303 as he defeated seasoned veteran Michelle Waterson-Gomez with a grapple-oriented attack.
From the opening bell, Robertson (13-8 MMA, 10-6 UFC) dominated Waterson-Gomez (18-12 MMA, 6-8 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) victory at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The strawweight bout was part of the preliminary card.
The fight turned out to be the final for Waterson-Gomez, 38, who announced her retirement from the cage after the fight. The promotion had a tribute package ready and played it while she tried to control her emotions during her in-cage interview with Joe Rogan, who also got choked up.
“I’ve been thinking about this and I’ve been talking to my husband,” Waterson-Gomez said. “‘What am I if I don’t fight?’ He told me, ‘Just because you don’t fight in the octagon doesn’t mean you stop fighting.’ That really helped me accept that I had to move on.”
In the loss, Waterson-Gomez has her fifth straight fight and seventh in her most recent eight. Waterson-Gomez has been a professional fighter since 2007 and joined the UFC in 2015. Although she did not fight for a title, Waterson-Gomez fought numerous champions and top names, including Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas. Waterson-Gomez is also a former Invicta FC atomweight champion.
Robertson was in a favorable position on the canvas for most of the match. Several armbar attempts were unsuccessful. Waterson-Gomez’s grappling was good enough to avoid a submission, but not good enough to get Robertson off her. Robertson mounted Waterson-Gomez in round 3 and broke Waterson-Gomez, but the fight ultimately went the distance.
With the victory, Robertson has won two in a row and four of her most recent five. Although she spent much of her career at flyweight, Robertson has found a home at strawweight.
The most up-to-date UFC 303 results include:
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s UFC 303 event hub.
Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
