Michelle Waterson is one of the key pieces to the growth of women’s MMA over the years, as the former Invicta FC champion has balanced her life outside the Octagon with a stellar career inside of it.
Waterson will headline Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 161 card from the Amalie Arena in Tampa opposite former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
The 33-year-old known as the “Karate Hottie” gave birth to a baby girl in 2011, but returned to the cage the following year. She signed with Invicta FC in October of 2012 and won the atomweight title a year later with a submission in the fourth round over Jessica Penne.
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Waterson would make a successful title defense over Yasuko Tamada in 2014 before dropping the belt to Herica Tiburico. She moved back to the strawweight division upon signing with the UFC, debuting with a third round submission of Angela Magana.
In 2016, Waterson got the chance to headline her first UFC card, taking advantage with a first round submission win over Paige VanZant to earn “Performance of the Night” honors. Her 2017 was a tough one, as she lost to former UFC champion Rose Namajunas and suffered a decision defeat at the hands of Tecia Torres.
Since, though, Waterson has been on fire, topping Cortney Casey, Felice Herrig and Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her last three fights to improve to 17-6 overall and 5-2 inside the Octagon.
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Next up for Waterson will be the toughest challenge of her career in Jedrzejczyk, a former UFC strawweight champion. The American Top Team-trained fighter has won just once in her last four, but has faced Namajunas twice and current UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko during that stretch.
Jedrzejczyk owns wins over Torres, Jessica Andrade, Penne, Claudia Gadelha and Kowalkiewiz in her career. sitting at 15-3 overall and 9-3 with the UFC since debuting in 2014.
UFC Fight Night 161 Fight Card
MAIN CARD (ESPN+)
Women’s Strawweight: Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Michelle Waterson
Featherweight: Cub Swanson vs. Kron Gracie
Women’s Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
Lightweight: Matt Frevola vs. Luis Pena
Middleweight: Eryk Anders vs. Gerald Meerschaert
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)
Welterweight: Niko Price vs. James Vick
Light Heavyweight: Ryan Spann vs. Devin Clark
Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Tim Elliott
Welterweight: Max Griffin vs. Alex Morono
Welterweight: Miguel Baeza vs. Hector Aldana
Middleweight: Marvin Vettori vs. Andrew Sanchez
Women’s Flyweight: JJ Aldrich vs. Lauren Mueller
Bantamweight: Marlon Vera vs. Andre Ewell