The win-loss record may not be what she wants it to be, but no one can ever argue that Waterson-Gomez didn’t give every ounce of herself each time she stepped into the Octagon; frequently departing bruised and bleeding, often looking like there was nowhere else in the world she would rather be in that moment.
It’s amazing to think that Waterson-Gomez-Gomez accomplished all that she did in the UFC fighting up a division.
Make no mistake about it: in the modern age where weight-cutting, proper nutrition, and competing in a division where you’re more likely to maximize your physical gifts and play to your strengths, Waterson-Gomez would be an atomweight, but the 105-pound division never made its way to the UFC, and so “The Karate Hottie” spent a decade competing up a weight class, and still managed to have a great deal of success.
Wins and losses aside, you do not remain ranked in any division for the better part of a decade if you are not extremely skilled and talented; it’s just not possible. The fact that Waterson-Gomez was a Top 10 fixture for much of that time speaks to the skills she brought to the Octagon and the fact that educated observers of the sport knew she was one of the top talents in the strawweight division, even if the results didn’t always go her way.