Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson prepares to headline UFC Vegas 10, feels ‘reinvigorated’
Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson will enter the octagon tonight in an attempt to end her two-fight losing streak at the main event at UFC Vegas 10.
The event will be live on ESPN+ from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Waterson is coming off back-to-back losses to former UFC women’s strawweight champions Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Carla Esparza.
Needless to say, she is in desperate need of a win.
“A loss never sits well in your stomach. For me, it’s left me feeling hungry,” Waterson told UFC.com. “I want to feel the taste of victory again and being back in the grind of what it is to prepare for a fight has reinvigorated me. I don’t see the two losses as anything that hold me back; they’re steppingstones to the future.”
“There’s something to be said about who I lost to,” she added. “It’s nothing to hold my head down about against Joanna and my last one was controversial.”
Waterson is one of the most notable female fighters in the promotion and was excited to hear the news of getting bumped up to the main event a week before the fight.
“A week before the fight we got the news about the bump and I couldn’t be more ecstatic,” Waterson said. “And against such a game opponent, with five rounds of war I’m so excited. There was no hesitation. I just wanted to be on the same page, and with her track record of taking last second fights, I knew she’d be up for it. It speaks to the UFC’s trust in us to carry this event. I think it’s great because any time the strawweights come to fight we show up.”
Waterson believes the key to victory will be her experience as this will mark her third UFC headliner.
“I feel like I have an advantage because I’ve competed in a main event two other times before,” Waterson said. “But you can never tell. Every fighter is different and they deal with pressure differently. I hope she’s able to bring the best her to the fight because that’s what I look forward to fighting – the best version of all my opponents.”
“I expect her to come guns blazing,” she added. “Let’s see who gets to fill their belly.”
