Michelle Waterson, who calls herself The Karate Hottie and went from ring girl to fighter way back in 2007, is finally getting some of the love she so deserves after 10 long years in professional mixed martial arts. 15-5 in her career, Waterson has been part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship since her 2015 appearance on The Ultimate Fighter 21.
Waterson, a former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion, looked to be on her way to a possible UFC championship in December of 2016 when she defeated highly-touted Paige VanZant in the main event at UFC on Fox in the first round.
Unfortunately, Waterson lost her next bout versus Rose Namajunas by rear-naked choke in April of this year.
However, even with the loss, all of this recent exposure has led to even more exposure (literally) for the 31-year-old MMA vet as she is one of the athletes to be featured in ESPN’s 2017 “Body Issue.” In addition to Waterson, Caroline Wozniacki, Ezekiel Elliott, Julian Edelman, and Javier Báez have all also been revealed (literally) to have taken part in this year’s issue.
Check out some video and a censored version of Waterson’s ESPN cover below as well as some other highlights from her always entertaining Instagram…
With a smile like that and skills like hers, she really should be starring in action movies.
H/T Busted Coverage