Michelle Waterson-Gomez plans to always be involved in MMA one way or another, and commentary could fill that void once her competitive career concludes.
Although she’s served as a desk analyst for the UFC during the FOX Sports era and Invicta FC, Waterson-Gomez (18-10 MMA, 6-6 UFC) will do something Friday she’s never done before: cage-side commentary.
Days after Laura Sanko became the first woman in modern UFC history to call a fight, Waterson-Gomez was named lead commentator for Combat FC 3, furthering the representation of women calling internationally streamed fights.
The event takes place Friday at Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Mass., and streams on UFC Fight Pass after prelims on Facebook. Waterson-Gomez will call the fights alongside longtime broadcaster and former Bellator commentator Sean Wheelock.
“I think it will be really cool because commentary is a little bit different than analyzing where I get to sit down and enjoy the fights and just talk about what I see in live time,” Waterson-Gomez told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I feel like I’ll be really comfortable talking about the fights and watch the fighters compete.”
Waterson-Gomez still is solely focused on being a fighter and a mother. She has a bout upcoming April 8 at UFC 287 in Miami against Luana Pinheiro (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC). But when she takes a step back though, Waterson-Gomez projects analysis and commentary could be something she needs to set herself up for post-competition.
“I do love fighting. I do love MMA. I love how it’s always evolving,” Waterson-Gomez said. “It’s something that you will always continue to be a student at. If I’m commentating and still learning, I’d love that when I’m done fighting. Martial arts is always going to be part of my life. If being an analyst and a commentator is going to allow me to still be in the MMA world, I would absolutely welcome it with open arms.”
Until the time comes for her to hang up the gloves, Waterson-Gomez plans to slowly build her commentary resume, which starts with Combat FC. The reason Waterson-Gomez began the pursuit of analysis was to improve as a fighter, and she boosts herself with each fight she studie,s whether it be for analysis or commentary.
“I saw the correlation with them being able to analyze fighters and draw a line between all of them and pick out all these things that were helping fighters be successful in fights,” Waterson-Gomez said. “It was helping them in their own careers as active fighters. I thought it would help me, and it definitely has. You have to sit back and analyze all the fighters.
“Usually, as an active fighter, you really only pay attention to your roster. When you’re an analyst, you have to study all the fighters, all the different styles, all the different tools. There’s always an underlying similarity that the winners have. You start to figure those things out and it’s basically like becoming a student. In studying these fighters, it just adds a layer of complexity to an active fighter’s game.”
