Rashad Evans consoling his long time friend
Michelle Waterson-Gomez#UFCVegas79
pic.twitter.com/YIqIeq23XG— MMA Mania (@mmamania)
September 24, 2023
Michelle
Waterson-Gomez suffered a second round technical knockout loss
in a rematch against Marina
Rodriguez at
UFC Fight Night 228 on Saturday.
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“The Karate Hottie” was thoroughly outclassed by Rodriguez on the
feet with a 90-16 total strike differential. While Rodriguez seemed
close to finishing to bout in the opening frame, Waterson-Gomez
displayed commendable toughness in weathering the storm. As the
beatdown continued, referee Kerry Hatley stepped in to halt the
bout at 2:42 of the second round. A bloodied Waterson-Gomez broke
down in tears after the defeat.
UFC Hall of Famer and Waterson-Gomez’s former teammate at
Jackson-Wink MMA, Rashad
Evans, who was an analyst for the event, consoled the
37-year-old outside the Octagon as she was overwhelmed by emotions.
Sharing details of the exchange, Evans stated that Waterson-Gomez
felt like she could have still mounted a comeback.
“It was tough,” Evans said on the post-fight show. “Because at the
end of the night, when she came to me, she said, ‘I didn’t want him
to stop it. I wanted to come back. I wanted to come back and I know
could come back.’”
While there is no arguing the stoppage as Waterson-Gomez was
clearly not defending herself anymore, Evans can’t help but
empathize with his former teammate.
“I’ve known Michelle for the longest time,” he said. “We go back to
Jackson’s and when she was named ‘Peanut.’ She was one of the guys
on the team and she was just always there, just going through the
workouts we did. It was hard for me see her in that moment because
I know what it’s like to want to keep going, but you just can’t.”