UFC 303 results: Emotional Michelle Waterson-Gomez retires after Gillian Robertson’s grappling showcase

Gillian Robertson stuck to her bread and butter Saturday at UFC 303 when he defeated seasoned veteran Michelle Waterson-Gomez with a grapple-centric attack.

From the opening bell, Robertson (13-8 MMA, 10-6 UFC) dominated Waterson-Gomez (18-12 MMA, 6-8 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) victory at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The strawweight bout was part of the preliminary card.

The bout turned out to be the final for Waterson-Gomez, 38, who announced her retirement in the cage following the bout. The promotion had a tribute package ready and played it as she tried to compose her emotions during her in-cage interview with Joe Rogan, who also became choked up.

“I’ve been contemplating this, and I’ve been talking to my husband,” Waterson-Gomez said. “‘What am I if I’m not fighting?’ He told me, ‘Just because you’re not fighting in the octagon doesn’t mean you stop fighting.’ That really helped me to accept moving on.”

In defeat, Waterson-Gomez her fifth fight in a row and the seventh in her most recent eight. A professional fighter since 2007, Waterson-Gomez joined the UFC in 2015. While she did not fight for a title, Waterson-Gomez fought numerous champions and top-tier names, including Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Carla Esparza, and Rose Namajunas. Waterson-Gomez is also a former Invicta FC atomweight champion.

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Robertson was in an advantageous position on the canvas for almost the entirety of the fight. Multiple armbar attempts were unsuccessful. Waterson-Gomez’s grappling was sufficient to prevent a submission but not good enough to get Robertson off her. Robertson mounted Waterson-Gomez in Round 3 and busted Waterson-Gomez up, but the fight ultimately went the distance.

With the victory, Robertson has won two in a row and four of her most recent five. While she spent much of her career at flyweight, Robertson has found a home at strawweight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 303 results include:

• Gillian Robertson def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Martin Buday def. Andrei Arlovski via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Vinicius Oliveira def. Ricky Simon via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303 .