Michelle Waterson-Gomez feels she retired from MMA at the perfect time: “I’m not getting any younger”

Michelle Waterson-Gomez feels confident in her decision to walk away from pro MMA competition.

Waterson had her final pro MMA bout on the UFC 303 prelims. She shared the Octagon with Gillian Robertson. After three rounds of action, Waterson-Gomez dropped a unanimous decision, her fifth defeat in a row.

After the fight, Waterson announced her retirement from MMA competition. The UFC then played an emotional farewell video package, and an emotional Waterson-Gomez hugged color commentator Joe Rogan.

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Michelle Waterson-Gomez Happy With Retirement Decision

During an appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” Michelle Waterson-Gomez said being around her family more as a mother and a wife makes retiring the right choice.

“I’ve been fighting for over 17 years,” Waterson-Gomez said. “My husband sacrificed a lot in order for me to fight. He sacrificed his own fighting career. As long as my daughter’s been born, she’s been a gym kid. You take her to the gym, she was in the car seat, she’s had to sacrifice birthdays, events, change around things on her end so mommy can train, so mommy can fight. She’s getting older, and I want to be in her corner. I want to be in my husband’s corner. There are a lot of things that he’s doing right now that I want to be a part of.

“I’m not getting any younger. I think that you just kind of have to recognize things for what they are, and as a fighter and a competitor, if I could, I would stay in chasing the wins, chasing that incredible high that you get when you win, chasing the gold. But I think I just had to recognize where I was at in my MMA career, and the amount of time and sacrifice I was putting into that could be put into a different direction, where I can get a win in different areas of life.”

Waterson wraps up her pro MMA career with a record of 18-13. She secured one “Performance of the Night” bonus and one “Fight of the Night” bonus. Waterson-Gomez had 15 fights under the UFC banner.