Invicta FC’s 105-pound champion, Michelle Waterson, known to MMA fans as “The Karate Hottie,” noted during a recent interview that Invicta’s deal with UFC to air on their “Fight Pass” digital service was the deciding factor in her decision to put off having another baby in favor of returning to the cage.
Waterson told USA Today Sports that the longer she waited around for fights, the more she contemplated giving up fighting for a while to try and get pregnant again.
“The Karate Hottie” spoke about how she didn’t want her three-year-old daughter to be an only child and that the longer she waited around for an opponent to challenge for her Invicta FC Atomweight title, the more she began to lose hope.
“All those things go through your mind,” said Waterson (11-3), who defends her title against Yasuko Tamada (15-8-3) at Invicta FC 8 in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday night’s UFC Fight Pass debut show. “I feel like fighting is such a sacrifice on your body and on your family. If you’re just training with nothing in front of you, sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated. I started thinking, man, if I’d known I was going to be out this long, I could have had another baby already.”
Waterson said two things kept her from giving up her dreams, the first of which was her husband, Joshua Gomez, a boxer who hung his gloves up to take a job as a financial advisor in order to support the family while she continued her fighting career. Gomez said “it just made sense because Michelle is a hundred times better fighter than I ever was.”
The other reason she decided to hang in there was Invicta inking a deal to air their events live on UFC Fight Pass.
“That was great to hear, because I feel like the relationship between Invicta and UFC Fight Pass is going to allow Invicta to have more cards, more opportunities,” Waterson says.
If the deal does allow Invicta to put on more fight cards, Waterson says the deal could result in her ability to turn her MMA aspirations into a full-time career. “I think a lot really depends on how this event goes,” said Waterson. “Hopefully this will allow Invicta to have more cards so I can fight more regularly. Then this can actually be a career for me.”
As far as Waterson and Gomez having another baby so that their daughter isn’t an only child, Gomez says there is plenty of time in the future for that.
“Her job right now iis to be the champ,” said Gomez.
“The Karate Hottie” defends her 105-pound title against Yasuko Tamada this Saturday night at Invicta FC 8 live on UFC Fight Pass. For a preview of the show, watch the video at the top of this page.
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