UFC Fight Night 177: Michelle Waterson digs deep, and blasts herself back into strawweight title picture
- ‘The Karate Hottie’ takes split decision over Angela Hill after five torrid rounds
- ‘I want to get to the belt as fast as possible,’ says eighth-ranked 34-year-old
There was a moment early on when it looked as though Michelle Waterson might not even last a round.
In the end, the “The Karate Hottie” (18-8) went the distance, and she got the win that throws her back into the strawweight title picture, grinding her way to a split decision over fellow American Angela Hill (12-9) in the UFC Fight Night 177 headline on Sunday.
The 34-year-old Waterson dug as deep as a fighter can against a game Hill, who also gave every single ounce of herself across the full five rounds. The judges called it 47-48, 49-46, 48-47 – and there was no doubt this was Fight of the Night.
“I was confident but we talked about this the whole time leading up to the fight – you never want to leave it to them. A split decision doesn’t leave a good decision in your stomach,” Waterson said in her post-fight interview. “I wanted to take her down and finish the fight.”
Instead, by the time this was over, there were new personal records for each fighter in terms of strikes thrown over five rounds – 324 for Waterson and 261 for Hill – but it was a takedown by Waterson in the third that first got her back into the bout.