Gillian Robertson delivers near-perfect performance, Michelle Waterson-Gomez retires

Canadian Gillian Robertson, still on the bright side of 30 and 2-1 as a strawweight in the UFC, faced veteran Michelle Waterson-Gomez on the first preliminary card of UFC 303 on Saturday.

Robertson was coming off a win over Polyana Viana in Toronto in January at UFC 297, while “The Karate Hottie” Gomez-Waterson had lost four straight, including two to Marina Rodriguez.

With Michelle flashing position switches and staying mobile early, it was Gillian Robertson who was pressing and nearly got a takedown on a caught kick. Robertson kept her guard high, fired a kick and looked to land a right hand. About 90 seconds later, Robertson got back up, landing on her bread and butter even though she was standing. The takedown came easily and Robertson quickly took side control, working on an armbar. When the armbar wasn’t there, Robertson moved to her mount, pinned an arm and secured a crucifix, dropping elbows! Waterson-Gomez survived, but had Robertson on top, in the North-South. She turned, sat on her mount and dropped elbows and punches, forcing Waterson-Gomez to cover.

Then came the arm bar. Waterson-Gomez fought back, Robertson rolled with the submission, but they ultimately had to move on to round two.

Robertson immediately closed the distance in the second round and scored a quick takedown with authority. Waterson-Gomez hung on momentarily in half guard, but Robertson quickly moved to side control, looking for another crucifix. From there, she moved towards mount, landing more elbows. Waterson-Gomez regained half guard, but Robertson was still in control, elbowing the thigh, and soon enough she was back on mount, two minutes left on the clock. Just a dominant performance from Gillian Robertson throughout the first half of the fight.

Robertson continued to move up, then moved into side control, then into mount. And again, at the end of the round, Robertson attempted an armbar, but didn't have time to do so.

The third round began with Waterson-Gomez getting caught in a guillotine, after looking for a takedown of her own. Robertson used that to regain her footing, then put “The Karate Hottie” back on herself. From there, it was all Gillian. In the most dominant performance of her UFC career, Robertson proved to be on top of the ground, while what little was seen of her striking also appeared to have improved. Over the final two minutes, Robertson worked from half guard, continued to work to improve her position and find a finish, and never gave Michelle Waterson-Gomez a break. Michelle was showing swelling under one eye and simply had no answer for Gillian Robertson’s problem.

After the fight, a tearful Waterson-Gomez took off her gloves as the UFC aired some of her career highlights. A former Invicta FC atomweight champion, “The Karate Hottie” leaves the sport as a trailblazer, fighting at a time when women had yet to break into the major leagues. “I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the UFC and all the fans who kept pushing me. Fighting runs through my veins, it made me who I am,” Waterson-Gomez said, saying she’ll now be on the other side, with her family, cheering others on.

Official result: Gillian Robertson defeats Michelle Waterson-Gomez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)