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Karate Hottie Turns Up the Heat
Forget about the centerfold
looks, and forget about the killer strikes and submissions: This girl
has a knockout personality that could melt down an army of Power
Rangers. It’s 4pm in New Mexico and
Michelle is pulling up at her apartment in Albuquerque, where she has
lived for the past year. “I was at the tanning salon,”
Waterson laughs. And already it’s apparent that this interview
is going to be a lot of fun. Her wit and happy nature flow through
the phone from one side of the Pacific to the other. There are some discrepancies
on the internet regarding Ms. Waterson, so Knucklepit.com asked
her to clarify a few, starting with her birthplace. “I was born
in Colorado Springs, but grew up in Aurora, Colorado. I relocated
to Albuquerque to train with Greg Jackson.” The twenty-two-year-old MMA
star admits she is a former bikini model and still does some modeling
here and there, but fighting is now her passion. And it was whilst
posing in swimwear that Michelle earned the tag, ‘Karate Hottie’.
“I got a job with a company
called Bikini.com, and when they found out I did martial arts, they
decided to take advantage of that and gave me the title Karate Hottie.
The name doesn’t express me fully as a fighter; however it’s catchy
and a lot of people know me by that. Whether they judge me by the
name doesn’t really matter because it is catchy and marketable.” With an American father and a
Thai mother, both of Waterson’s parents have played an influential
part in her career. “My parents are very supportive of my
martial arts career: My dad wrestled as a teenager, but my mother was
the one who took me to Thailand so I could train at the Thai camp.” Michelle, what weight
class do you prefer to compete at? “I started at 115 pounds,
but now I’m trying to get fights at 110 pounds because I feel more
comfortable at that weight.” Your MMA stats? “I’m 5-2 as a
professional – I didn’t have any amateur MMA fights. One win
was by TKO, one via decision and the other three were by submissions.
And my losses: one was by decision and the other by submission.”
“I actually took a break
because I just had three fights in a row with little time between
events, so I’m taking this week off before I go back to training.” Can you give us a rundown
of your fight with Tyra Parker, please, Michelle? “I was nervous because she
came from a school that does a lot of jiu jitsu, and I’m known as a
stand-up fighter even though I do submissions. I was also nervous
because at the weigh-ins she came in a lot heavier, and she was cutting
weight, so I knew she was going to be a lot bigger. I just
knew that I had to be technical and not let her overpower me. But
I focused on my good technique, and remained calm and relaxed – just
watched the shots as they came. “She advanced towards me
very aggressively and then backed off a little when I kicked her a
couple of times in the leg, then I caught her with a good right that
kinda buckled her a little bit and rushed her. We came off the
cage and I got her back and took advantage of the position and got her
in a rear naked choke, causing her to tap.” You’ve submitted
opponents with arm bars and RNCs. Is Greg Jackson’s where you
gained your grappling skills? “Yeah, I owe a lot to Coach
Jackson because I go to all of his technique classes and I’m learning
all the basics and the things I needed to learn. The great thing
that Coach does is he integrates the ground fighting with MMA: You can
be good at jiu jitsu, but not know how to use those skills in MMA.
Coach Jackson integrates the two really well.” What’s next for Michelle
Waterson? “Hopefully, I’ll have a
contract with Strikeforce and will be fighting, if not at the end of
this year, then at the beginning of next year.” Michelle, is there
anything you’d like to add? “Thank you to the fans for
their support and for believing in me as a fighter, and thank you to
Greg Jackson and all my teammates.” Michelle Waterson’s
sponsors:
For more on Strikeforce: www.strikeforce.com.
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