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Michelle Waterson will be competing in her fourteenth fight in the UFC this Saturday, September 23, 2023, against Marina Rodriguez. The fight is the rematch of their first showdown in 2021 which Rodriguez won via unanimous decision. While Waterson has been a mainstay of women's divisions in the UFC for a few years, she worked hard to reach the level.
Before becoming a professional fighter, Michelle Waterson worked as a waitress at the American restaurant chain, Hooters. This is where she met her husband, Joshua Gomez, and also received her nickname, 'The Karate Hottie'.
On Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions podcast, Michelle Waterson explained how she got her nickname while shooting for the Hooters calendar and how it stuck with her throughout her fighting career.
"I tried out for the Hooters calendar, I went on location to shoot for the calendar," Waterson said. "Virgin Islands, it was the coolest thing. We were in the Virgin Islands, I met a guy named Howie and he owned a company called Bikini.com. He got talking to me and found out that I did Karate and he was like ‘I would love to feature you on my website’ and on his website he featured different girls each month. He was like ‘We can theme you the Karate Hottie and we can do bikini shots and karate shots and it will be awesome’ and it stuck. My first promoter asked me my fight name and I said no. He then Googled me and that’s what popped up."
Waterson may no longer be the person who necessarily relates to either the nickname or her past, however, she has embraced the moniker as part of her brand now and is okay to see past the name and prove her mettle through fighting.
In a 2019 interview with ESPN, Michelle Waterson said she was confident about changing people's minds about her, inside the octagon.
"If people are going to tune in because my fight name is the Karate Hottie or because I used to work at Hooters, then so be it," Waterson said. "I just need your eyes to watch, and once you see that I am a true martial artist, then I'll change your mind about how you view me."
Michelle Waterson is set to face Marina Rodriguez on September 23, 2023
Michelle Waterson has fought in the UFC 13 times and has a 6-7 record in the organization. She holds wins over respectable opponents like Carolina Kowalkiewicz, Felice Herrig, and Angela Hill.
However, 'Karate Hottie' has hit a rough patch in her career and lost four of her last five fights. She is coming off three straight losses. At UFC Vegas 228, Waterson will go up against Marina Rodriguez for the second time in an attempt to get back in the win column.
Michelle Waterson's first fight against Rodriguez resulted in a unanimous decision loss for her. Meanwhile, Rodriguez has also been through a tumultuous phase off-late and lost two fights in a row. Both women will attempt to make a run for the title with a win this Saturday.
