Michelle Waterson Gomez happy with retirement decision
Appearing on MMAFighting.com's “The MMA Hour,” Michelle Waterson Gomez said that being a mother and a wife meant that retiring was the right choice for her to spend more time with her family.
“I've been doing martial arts for over 17 years,” Waterson-Gomez said. “My husband has sacrificed a lot for me to do it. He sacrificed his own martial arts career. My daughter has been a gym-goer since she was born. I've had to put her in a car seat to take her to the gym, sacrifice birthdays and events, and make adjustments to accommodate my schedule so that mommy could train and so that mommy could do martial arts. Now that she's getting older, I want to be there for her. I want to be there for my husband. There are a lot of things that he's doing now that I want to be a part of.”
“I'm getting older and I think you have to recognize things for what they are. As a fighter, as a competitor, if I could, I would like to continue chasing victory, chasing that incredible high that you get when you win, chasing gold medals. But I think I should have recognized where I was in my MMA career and taken the time and sacrifice I was putting into it and redirected it in a different direction where I could win in other areas of my life.”
Waterson finished her professional MMA career with a record of 18 wins and 13 losses. She earned one “Performance of the Night” bonus and one “Fight of the Night” bonus. Waterson-Gomez fought 15 times in her UFC bouts.
