Michelle Waterson Discusses Her UFC on FOX 29 Victory

Speaking to reporters in a media scrum after UFC on FOX 29 (via MMAjunkie), UFC fighter Michelle Waterson discussed picking up a win over Cortney Casey at the event. Below are some highlights from the scrum.

Last night’s UFC event was held at the Gila Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The event was broadcast live on FOX. Prelims were shown on FOX and UFC Fight Pass. You can check out 411’s live results and coverage of the event RIGHT HERE.

Waterson on being put in a do-or-die situation: “If I allowed it to be a do-or-die (situation), I wouldn’t be able to go in there and be myself. Because when say ‘do or die,’ that puts a lot of pressure on yourself. And it’s unnecessary pressure. You want to be able to go in there and just flow. And be in the moment. If you go into a fight thinking, ‘I have to, I have to, I have to,’ you do it for the wrong reasons. You don’t do it because you want to. At the end of the day, it’s a competition. It’s like, ‘I want to win.’ It’s not because you have to. You want to.”

On how she will look back on her career later: “I kept having to tell myself, ‘Michelle, you fight because you love to do it. Don’t make this a chore. Don’t make this something you have to do.’ I was talking to my husband about it, like, how cool is it going to be when I’m 70 years old and I’m talking to my grandchildren, telling them, ‘You know when I was your age, I used to beat people up for a living.’ They’ll be like, ‘Yeah right, Grandma.’ And I’m going to whip out the DVDs, and they’re going to be like, ‘What’s a DVD?’ It really is cool. Who else can say that? This is my life. I get to be a martial artists and compete in front of millions of people, and learn and grow from it.”

Waterson on dealing with a bigger fighter: “I told myself at the beginning of fight camp that the size wasn’t going to make a difference. At the end of the day, we both weigh in at 115 pounds. That’s the only requirement. Whatever happens outside of that – we’re all built differently. Just because she’s taller doesn’t mean that’s an advantage to her. I have lower hips, and I’ve got big legs an obviously it helped me with the takedowns tonight, so who had the advantage? It’s really up to you how you decide to take other people’s strengths.”