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Michelle Waterson was born on January 6, 1986, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. She is of Thai and Caucasian ethnicity. According to Gossip Gist, Waterson was born to a Thai mother and a Caucasian father.
Before realizing that she has a penchant for fighting, Michelle Waterson worked as a waitress at the famous American restaurant chain, Hooters. She also pursued a modeling career in 2004 before trying her hand at MMA.
Michelle Waterson's interest in karate at a young age embellished her overall MMA skill set. She holds a black belt in American Freestyle Karate and has also trained in Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, and wrestling.
Michelle Waterson achieved mainstream attention after featuring one of the contestants on the reality show, Fight Girls, which was broadcast on Oxygen Television Network. She made her UFC debut in July 2015, after a successful career at Invicta FC.
A brief introduction to Michelle Waterson's family
Michelle Waterson is the perfect example of a woman who takes care of her professional as well as personal life to strike a balance. The 37-year-old's family is an important aspect of her support system in a sport as risky and uncertain as MMA.
Michelle Waterson met her husband Joshua Gomez during her time at the Hooters restaurant chain. The couple got married in 2012 and has a daughter. 'The Karate Hottie' has a profound respect for her husband for all the sacrifices he has made for the family. A skilled boxer himself, Joshua Gomez never pursued his passion for the sport professionally and prioritized his family over everything else.
There have been times in Waterson's career when the troubles faced by her family greatly impacted her performance negatively. However, she did not shy away from her responsibilities at home in favor of an uber-successful career.
Back in 2017, Waterson suffered back-to-back losses against Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres which derailed her championship fight campaign. While speaking on an episode of The MMA Hour in April 2018, the 37-year-old revealed:
“We were in the process of buying a new house. And in the process of buying a new house, my father-in-law got into a really bad car accident that paralyzed him. [Husband] Josh has a younger brother who is 12, and his dad was in the hospital, and their life changed in a split second. So, to help his mother out, we took in his little brother.”
She added:
“It was the beginning of the school year for him, and it was a huge transition for him and a huge transition for us, a huge transition for his parents,” Waterson said. “It was kind of a hard pill to swallow. When you’re in fight camp, you tend to be very selfish, because you have to, in order to get in the right mind frame to fight.”
However, Waterson pondered over what her father-in-law was going through, which changed her perspective on life. She then went on to compete successfully as a professional fighter while taking care of the family.
