Michelle Waterson moved up in weight to make her UFC debut, Sunday, on the main portion of the TUF 21 Finale card against the tough Angela Magana and proved that she can compete at strawweight and in the UFC. The Team Jackson/Winkeljohn fighter overcame some initial adversity to ultimately win via rear-naked choke submission in the final round.
Magana pressed the action, early, landing punches and pressing the former atomweight champion against the cage. From there, Waterson countered with a takedown.
The Karate fighter found herself in trouble, however, as Magana locked on a tight armbar. Though she extended the joint, Waterson was eventually able to turn out and escape the hold.
On the feet, Waterson turned another takedown into the mount position. From there, she went for her own armbar attempt.
When that was defended, she returned to mount and landed strikes until time ran out.
In the second round, Magana once again began with hard punches landed but Waterson countered with punches of her own, and then a trip takedown. Waterson made no attempt to follow Magana to the ground, however, and so they stood back up.
Magana landed a hard elbow strike to the head followed by a left hook. Waterson appeared to be the fresher fighter, with bounce in her step but lack of commitment to a leg kick allowed Magana to catch it and take her down.
Though caught in a bad place, on her back and against the cage, Waterson locked on an armbar attempt, then took the mount. Magana managed a leg lock attempt but Waterson defended it by turning and burning, then got back on top, in the side mount and then mount.
Another armbar attempt from Waterson ended the round.
A left high kick came out of nowhere from Waterson at the start of the final round. She continued to score with punches and more kicks, then ducked under to take Magana’s back, on their feet.
Waterson held tight to the body lock and then suplexed Magana, taking the mount, and then the back. From there, strikes and pressuring hips set up the rear-naked choke that forced Magana to tap out.
The submission came at 2:38 of the third round for Waterson. She got back on track, in her UFC debut, after losing her previous bout and her Invicta atomweight championship.
Waterson looked comfortable at the higher weight of 115 pounds, and insisted she is already comfortable in the UFC Octagon. “This is home,” she said.
The win improves the 29-year-old’s record to 13-4. Magana’s loss is her fourth-straight and drops her career mark to 11-8.
Brought to tears by the big win, Waterson had a message for fight fans everywhere. “Martial arts isn’t just a sport, its a way of life,” she said.
“If you do it right, you can conquer your biggest fears.”
Courtesy of: Fox Sports
Photo credit: Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC