THE ED MYLETT SHOW - The World’s Toughest Mom! - w/ Michelle Waterson

Episode Date: January 19, 2021

Even when you feel like you are so far from your dreams, they are MUCH CLOSER than you think! Michelle Waterson AKA the Karate Hottie is an MMA and UFC Championship fighter. Formerly ranked the No. 1 women’s atomweight fighter IN THE WORLD, she’s honestly one of my FAVORITE athletes and I am honored to have her as my guest on The Ed Mylett Show! Picture this… Michelle went from being one of the ring card girls holding up the UFC cards between rounds to becoming a UFC SENSATION! And her journey has been very similar to the path many of you are facing right now. At one point she was lost…. She found herself in a “grey area” of her life. She was unclear about her purpose and seemed to just be aimlessly moving through life. But God works in mysterious ways and even when we can’t see the path in front of us… the things we experience in our lives are happening FOR us and not TO us! Little did Michelle know that her odd job as a ring card girl would lead to the biggest career breakthrough of her life! In this interview, Michelle gets REAL about her journey, the battle of balancing staying humble while embracing your own greatness, and how YOU can identify your own superpowers! This is an interview we can ALL relate to and be inspired by. We are all on a journey to become the next best version of ourselves and this interview will help you get there!   👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈  → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ▶︎ INSTAGRAM ▶︎ FACEBOOK  ▶︎ LINKEDIN ▶︎ TWITTER ▶︎ WEBSITE  

This is the Edmirelet Show. Welcome back to the show, everybody. I'm fired up about today. I've been chasing this lady. I was just telling her for like six months. She is my favorite UFC fighter. I think she's my favorite athlete just to be honest with you guys like I'm a huge fan and then I was honored when I found out she was following me and her stories

awesome. She's amazing. You're gonna write a ton of notes. You're gonna be inspired. She is the Karate, Hadi, Mama, Michelle Waterson. Welcome to Max out. Great to have you. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate that amazing introduction. Well, you know, I mean it. You guys just want to picture something. See, there's a lot of you that are, you're feeling far from your dream right now. Like, you got this dream, people think you're crazy, and probably with COVID, you probably even feel further away. I just want you to picture something. Here's this girl. She's a ring card girl. She's one of the hotties walking around the ring with the card round two. I want you to picture this, right? And then when she leaves there, she's working over at Hooters, right? I want you to picture this, okay? The ring card girl

goes from carrying the what round it is to someday becoming into the UFC and winning like crazy in that actual octagon. She was once the ring card girl. You can't get further away than that. And that's what happened on Michelle. Can you please tell me how the heck you go from that? Was there like a moment when you're like a ring card girl that like started this process to becoming one of the actual fighters?

How did that happen? Well, I actually did martial arts growing up. I have an older brother and it was my life. I actually absolutely saved me at a pivot point in my life where it gave me a voice. I had an older brother and I wanted to be just like him. We watched Ninja Turtles in Mortal Kombat and Power Ragers. Ninja Turtles.

And there was a little community center down the street that my parents could afford to put all of us in. And martial arts gave me a voice. Going to college, right as I applied for college, my dad said, you know, baby girl, I got you. And so I applied to DU, the private school. And I got accepted. And then my dad lost his job.

So to pay for the school, I got a job at Hooters. So it was a very Hooters part time, going to school full time. And really with kind of just in this gray area. And I lost myself for a while. I stopped doing martial arts. I just, I didn't have a purpose. I kind of was just floating along. And as a Hooters girl, I would do odd jobs.

I did photo shoots for different magazines and calendar shoots and this and that. And so one of my odd jobs was being a wringer. I had no idea what MMA was. So I just I took the job as a wringer. And I remember like learning all the rules as a wringer. Like hold on. So they can do all these different martial arts.

It doesn't matter. So they could kick people's face and take them down. Why? I was so intrigued. And I was like, I was so intrigued. And I was like, this is like, I have a background in this. I could do this. And I remember telling the promoter, hey, I have a background in martial arts

and a black belt in karate. I do Wushu. I've done Kempo. I've competed for over nine, 10 years. And he kind of looked at me and just almost laughed it off. Like, believe me, because I'm here with this like, push it brawl and a little school girl, skirt on. But Donald Soroni was a local fighter then.

He overheard me and kind of just, you know, called me on my bluff, I guess. He came to Hooters and left a note and said, if you're serious about fighting, get your ass in the gym. Wow. And I took him up on his offer and I started training with him. Wow. That's like almost, wow, that's like divine intervention. I did not know that little piece of it. That it was Cowboys' seroni that overhears you. Goes into hooters and leaves you a damn note. That's, see for you at your life now, she's like, yeah, that's what happened. But when you hear that back, you're like, wow,

that's like, that's destiny meeting you, right? And I think for everybody listening to this, one of you feel far from your dream, this should give you hope, because I don't, the irony is, you're so much closer than you think you are and so are you. You were literally standing in the octagon you would someday fight in. That's crazy. Number one, right? That is crazy. Then the other thing, because it happened to me too, like in my business career too, maybe you fall off

your dream for a while. Maybe it goes away. Maybe you get lost. Maybe you're drifting. And I think what happens is you go, okay, I'm just qualified now, game over. I was chasing it, now I'm not. It's over. It's never over. It's never freaking over. There's always a shot. And you're through with that. That just blows my mind.

So you go from there, okay. So now you're like, all right, I'm gonna start training. You actually take them up on it. Was there a point where you, you know, you're like, wow, I could do this. Was there a point where, or did you know it immediately? Or was there still like a lot of

that? Because one of the things I must say that I love about you is you seem like this contradiction. That's why I root for you. You seem to me to be somebody who's very vulnerable, working on herself confidence all the time as she's winning fights, as she's, you know, you're like a real human being. I think that's why people do it for you. And so I'm wondering, was there a point that you didn't believe it? And then there was this moment where you're like, oh no, I could probably do this. Yeah, I would say both of those things. I would say that the reason why God into it is because it intrigued me. Here I am. So I had this black belt in America freestyle karate.

So I think I'm like, hot shit. And I remember going into, Donald had taken me to this YMCA gymnasium and I'm like, where are we going? And we literally went past the basketball courts and went into this room where there were these old wrestling mats and just people just gearing up, putting on their gear. And he was like, all right, put your gear on. And it was just a bunch of random like, Josh Moe people that wanted to be fighters, they

all got together and they spar. They beat the crap out of each other. And I think he kind of wanted to test me. And I remember, I spar with him actually, going to throw an ax kick to him, because that was like one of my moves, go to moves in points firing, and I remember him kicking my leg from out under me, and me falling to the mat and knocking the wind out of myself, and standing over me and saying, don't ever do that shit again.

And I was just, I mean, completely thrown off. I hear I thought I knew my stuff and realizing that there was still so much to learn is what captivated me and what intrigued me. It's like, I was a black belt. And I thought I had all this knowledge in martial arts and come to realize that I was still so, so green, so novice, that it's what drove me to want,

to want more. You think, see how this notion I've developed like the last year, that the best, first the most happy and fulfilled people and the most successful, they trend this line that I see that I think you have, which is that they have a, they work on their self-confidence,

they're very self-confident, you can't win if you're not confident, but they have an ability to mirror that with unbelievable humility, and that humility allows them to be coachable, to be humble, to want to grow, to know what they don't know, to be curious, right? And so I get that you were like, wow,

I got a lot to learn, but when was the moment where you're like, no, I could win? This is something could be my life. When was that? You know, like those moments, it's weird that you say that because I do feel like those moments they come and they go, they're a moment really, really comfortable. You have super highs and then you have super lows. I remember going into my first match and taking it with four weeks of MMA training. And it being my, I took a couple of cheekboxing smokers

and my first MMA fight was supposed to be an amateur fight, but the girl that I was training for to fight fell through and the only girl that they had available was a pro fighter. I remember just being so excited to get in there and do what I had been like, what I had fallen in love with. Winning or losing didn't matter, but just the fact that I was able to go in there and everybody with my nickname, the karate, thought it was going to be a stand up fight, I ended up taking the girl down seven times and winning the fight.

I was on this high and it was like, this is what I wanna do. I mean, I wanna, how other way, what other way will I be able to continue my martial arts and make money like what I wanna do? And then, you get put flat on your back, you get your nose broken, you lose. And then you lose your confidence, you don your nose broken, you lose. And then you lose your confidence.

You don't just lose physically, you also lose emotionally. And it's not just, you know, you go to work and you lose a case or you lose this or you lose that. But the world gets to see you get beat up, you know. Yeah. And I think part of me too is very, like you said grew up in you know military household with with the strict Asian mother and so a lot of things are like very you know strictened by the book and so you know especially martial arts too it's like white belt yell about orange belt you you you have to work your way up to be a to be a black belt and so in my mind I had to work my way up to be a champion in order for me to

exude that confidence that Ali has, that John Jones has, that Conor McGregor has. And so I was always like trading that line of trying to be humble and respectful versus like believing in myself. I remember talking to my sports psychologist and him saying, I were talking to my sports psychologists and him saying, you know, when Michael Jordan was at his pinnacle when he was at his peak, would you call him the greatest of all time? Of course, yes, we all did. We all do, still.

And then he asked me, do you think he still had things to work on? And I said, yeah, of course. And he worked on those things constantly. So he said, you could be both at the same time. You could be great. You could be great and still be working towards more greatness, you know.

Wow, that's, you know what, it's interesting, because I think a lot of people are very aware of their deficiencies and not so aware of their superpowers. And so I want to unpack a couple things you said there, because it's where you went right where I wanted to go. I think you've had 18 wins and eight losses. Am I about right on that? I don't know. I've lost count. Well, I think that's I'm pretty sure that I'm right about that. And I want to unpack both. I want to talk to you about both, because now guys, we're going to go into life lessons. One thing that you all don't know is that Michelle is a personal development, self-improvement.

I don't want to call it addict, but she's involved in that because she understands the power of the mind. She understands the power of her spirit. She works really hard on that and so many of the people that you've seen on my show, she knows, and so I want to talk a little bit about winning and losing because this is where everybody

can start to connect a little bit. So I want to talk to you first about these losses. First off, if you ever had a fight that when you took it, you immediately thought I might lose, I could lose, I, if you had a fight like that, and then what's the feeling after a eight week camp, let's say? You put everything you've got into your teams behind you. What are the emotions that you face you face after a loss and again if you ever had one where you're like I might work we'll lose this fight if you ever had that yeah really could you say which fight I think the fight that comes to mind the most is the one against you wanna like Like right when you took it, look at your face change. Wow.

Oh my God. Look at your face change. This is good. So right when you took the fight, look at you. Right when you took the fight, there was a fear or I'm not good enough or what was that like? It was, well, it was kind of, I know I'm good enough. I think more than anything, I the the wrong type of pressure on

myself. You know I put her on this pedestal. She you know she was the longest raining starweight champion of the UFC and still still still holds that title you know she's um and it was kind of like holy shit you know and then and then you know in the same token, I know it could be her. And if I beat her, then I would be fighting the champ. So it was like, this is real. You know, like, this is my chance. This is my opportunity. I have to win this fight, you know. And it scared the crowd about me.

And what were your, I'm so thank you for saying that because again, I relate everything to other things. To me, fighting, the reason I love fighting is I think it's the the greatest metaphor for life, both boxing and the UFC. There's, it's you and that other person in the cage. And oftentimes it's you versus you, mentally, emotionally. It's all about your preparation, training,

your confidence, your belief, your ability to execute, your fears. I think you really, emotionally. It's all about your preparation, training, your confidence, your belief, your ability to execute, your fears. I think you really face yourself. When I work with fighters, they're facing themselves. And so when you got in, I think there's a lot of people that are very afraid, they're not enough. Very afraid, they don't have what it takes. And they put the dream or the obstacle

that they're chasing on such a pedestalal as if it's so unachievable or people like me don't belong there. And then when you get a little resistance, why wanna ask you about that fight? Then when you get the resistance, you're like, oh, I was right, I'm not good enough. And it magnifies. So is there a moment in the fight,

maybe even the first round or so, you're like, uh-oh. Or once you went in there, were you just executing, were you on autopilot? Let me try to run my mind back to that that fight. There was a moment where I lost the reins and I spent the rest of the fight trying to find them. You know, it was like I spent the rest of the fight trying to find them. It was like I lost control. And instead of going plan B, I was like, no, we need plan A, any plan A, trying to find the range that I had already lost.

And so that's what I think really happened in the fight against Juana. It was like, I had my mind made up of how it was gonna beat her and it wasn't happening, but I was so stuck in how I envisioned it to be. Wow. That like a CD that skips, you know. Yes.

And I couldn't get myself out of it. I couldn't get out of my own way. Yeah, that's one of my favorite answers in the history of the show. And I'm glad that it took you a minute to find it. You were really working on that because I think that's another thing that happens. I just want to say this to everybody

that you have in your mind the way it has to go in order for it to work to make your dream happen or make a relationship happen in your mind. You're like, it's got to be this way, these roses, she must treat me that way or he must do this. And when it varies from this perfect picture you have, it's your ability to improvise oftentimes in life and pivot. So many people right now in their lives are in the middle of this pivot that does separate you. And if you get into that CD that's

skipping, you can go, no, it's supposed to go this way, no, it's supposed to go this way. It's not going that way. It's not. So you've got to make an adjustment. Most people that go to become champions in any sport or champions in life, there's all kinds of pivots and adjustments and nuances to it. So you lose. Is the pain of losing greater than the joy of winning or is the joy of winning greater than the pain of losing for you? I think that the pain of losing just sticks so much longer. When I win, I don't, it's funny because when I win, I think about the pain that I went through to get that victory. And you're so joyous, you're on this incredible high, but your mind probably celebrates it for, depending on the person, 10, 15 seconds, maybe that night. And then, when you win, it's okay,

on to the next one, what can we do next? Yes. But when you lose, it just sticks with you and it drags you down and it tries to pull you under. Have you thought about quitting? No, I have, I've never thought about quitting, but you know, there are times where I just, I want to, you know, stick myself in a room and not, and not have to face the music. There are times when I want to, room and not have to face the music. There are times when I want to not have to explain myself.

Yeah. You know, and, but those are just moments, you know, those are moments that they come and go. You're this amazing ability, Michelle. Like this is, everyone that's not a USC fan or even an MMA fan, when you listen to her, you find out why everyone roots for her. It's, she's very her. She's very vulnerable.

She's very transparent. She's you. You know, she's one of the few fighters at the top levels that's also a mother. There are others, but she's a mother and she's a wife. And I just think the whole story of you moves people. And I want to talk about these moments. So when you are your most confident, Michelle, where does that come from? In other words, if I'm someone listening to say, I need to generate more confidence

because I see in Michelle, even when she wins, it's sometimes when you've won, I watch you. And I'm already watching you. I think when you're even being interviewed, the things you could have done better. Almost sometimes guilty that you even see this sometimes it looks like they almost guilty for the other person feeling bad. You know, I've seen empathy from you for your opponent when you've beaten them. And I can see on your face that that's true as I say it.

But when you are your most confident, because I think that's something you really have to work on, especially when I've watched you. If that's true, let me know that. And then where do you get it from? When you, I got to get my confidence up. What, how do you get it? I When do you, I got to get my confidence up. What, how do you get it?

I think I was raised that, you know, talk is cheap, you know, actions speak louder than words. And so for me, I, I, I pull a lot of confidence for putting in the work. When I know that I've put in the work day in and day out that I've had an amazing eight week camp, even if through injuries, even through this, that I can lay down at night and be honest with myself and know that I put myself through what I

needed to to win the fight, that I let no stone unturned, that I went to the hard demons, that's when I'm the most confident. And also put in the mental work to it. It is like, everybody always says the fight is only 20% physical and 80% mental. And I think it's just as important to do the mental work as it is to do the physical work. So when I'm in Fight Camp, I probably I spend anywhere between, you know,

30 minutes to two hours a day working on my mental practice. And I have an amazing mental coach who helps me in a lot of times. It's hard because, you know, my husband is also in my corner and also does a lot of the negotiations for it. So both of us wear different hats so having to navigate through that, I think is what gives me the confidence and just there's just recently, I think for me, what I have been able to embrace and what has given me confidence concluded that it's okay to do that. Because that's so I am right after some fights you'd have felt guilt, haven't you?

Yeah, and sometimes in the middle of the fight, I have let the fight slip to my fingers because I was winning. That's incredible, really. Yeah, I mean, yeah, like after doing like some introspective work and trying to break down why I lost that fight, there have been fights like that. Wow, I love you. I love you.

What does some of that mental work look like? Give us some keys, some tips of what some of that mental work and camp looks like. Is it visualization? Is it self-talk? Is it vision boards? What's it, what's it look like? My sports ecologist's name is William Shannon. So just let me give him a little, hey.

I'm a little shout. You know, shout, but we work. I think the foundation of our work stems from having power words. And so they're kind of like triggers. And so they're kind of like triggers. So, and you know, we've been probably working together for, oh God, I'm so hard for me to keep track. I get hinted for living so. Working for a good amount of fights. And so we've just built on different power words.

Some of them, like one of them is confidence. One of them is mom champ, one of them is flow, you know, so I have all of these different words. And just because one word will trigger a whole slew of emotions, a whole slew of combinations, a whole slew of things. And I think it ties in with the way that Coach Jackson teaches. He's very like conceptual. So he doesn't try to teach you a single move. He tries to teach you a concept.

Because if a concept can work when you're fighting standing up, it will also work when you're fighting on the ground, when you're fighting up against the cage, if it's a good concept. And so that's kind of like the the same idea with the with the power words. When I say confidence, when I start to feel myself, when the butterflies start to come up from my from my stomach and I start to feel the heat rise above my neck and I start to get nervous and I start to get shaky when people start talking about

the fights. Instead of getting nervous and uneasy, I tell myself confidence. And then a lot of things happen, you know, with just that one where I'm triggering different emotions, I'm triggering myself to be confident, I'm churning myself to being controlled by breath, I'm triggering myself to be that confident girl that walks into the cage and and wins the fight. You're the first person ever on here to talk about triggers. Number one, it's something that I teach and by the way, those of you that want to know more about triggers, you can go to most of my free stuff and I talk a lot about triggers. This is something that not enough people do guys that Michelle's referring to here, which is some of these power words that you have,

they put you in a particular state. So when you're linking that word to a state, you're linking that word to a move. So it's not just enough to have the word, you're gonna get into a state, have that word, get into a state, have that word, get into a state, have that word, get into a move, get into a particular way you might present

if you're in sales, and you have those power words. They trigger that state, if you do them enough times repetitiously, they will override the negative state that you're in. If you do them enough times, repetitiously, they will override the negative state that you're in. Do you do any physical triggers or are they all verbal? Because I teach physical, I watch you do something with your hands here.

When you did it, I'm just wondering if you have any physical triggers. Like some guys, everybody, some people will be a handslapper. If you watch a golfer, it might be there the way they waggle the putter or a baseball player undoes their batting gloves and gets into a trigger state or a quarterback grabs their towel while this can trigger a state

as well. Are all years verbal or do you use any physical ones as well? I don't think we haven't created any intentionally, but I just think throughout the process of creating them that my body takes on a different, my body takes on a different state, like you would say, depending on the word that I've used. I don't even have to say that a lot, I could just think it. But just this last fight, there was one new word that we introduced. It was just, I think it was me waking up the more savage side of myself.

There was a physical trigger that I would use to wake that person up. Yeah, your face just changed when you said savage to no joke. It literally did. And you guys, one of the things these triggers can do is you can become a character. You can literally take on a character. I'd Brian Dawkins on who's a safety and NFL Hall of Famer. He literally became a character. He, he, he developed a character that he undertook that persona when he went into the ring. It hurts me that more people that are in sales or in life

or even moms don't have these resources that I teach because they haven't listened to my stuff or that you're learning that you use in fighting. You can use it in every area of your life. And by the way, everybody, the reason you want triggers, something that a word that changes your state or a physical move is you have other triggers, you're unaware of that trigger negative states.

And so if you don't have a resource to overcome it, sometimes you may walk into a room sometimes, guys, and all of a sudden you leave the room and you're like, why am I so sad? What just happened? It's possible that something sad has happened previously in that same space or particular person triggers you or a particular song, and they can be good or bad. And so having a couple of triggers you have that generate the state you want are so important just for your overall mental health and emotional health. So I'm so thrilled that you just said that.

Okay. Let's talk a little bit about, I want to get into the right before the fight part with you, because everyone has the right before their fight, the right before their sales call, the right before their speech, the right before they walk in. Do you do something it's you're going to be an hour out from the fight. So you're back in the room. I know you're physically warming up, but what is that process look like all the way up till you get in the cage? What's going on in your mind? What are you doing? Take us through that last part of preparation, not the camp, but now the right at the fight

preparation. Well, throughout camp, we we mentally prepare for those moments, because to me, those are the most stressful moments. It's like the unknown, it's waiting in line for the rollercoaster and like, you're about to do this. Maybe I should turn around and not get on the ride. And so that's the most stressful for me is that time. And we've worked really hard on not making it stressful. We've worked hard on making it an enjoyable, exciting time. I don't have any rituals because every fight

is different. You know, even if it, even if I am going into fight the same person, it's going to be a different fight. And so I don't have any rituals, but I think being in control of my breath and not allowing myself to it spell too much energy and trying to reserve that energy for the fight is what I've really been working on because I could be get so angst up and so rolled up that I you know, I was going to say blow my low. We know what you mean. Yeah, we know what you mean. And I, you know, let it all out before it's even tough, working on trying to like bottle up that energy for when it counts is what we really try to hone in on. And, you know, anytime I feel myself, you know, getting out of control,

just kind of trying to get myself back in control. And then, trying to get myself back in in in control and then Really focusing on being in the moment because I think first so much of my life I've always you know, well when I win This is gonna happen or always looking forward always planning trying to, you know, predict all those things. You can miss so much of what's actually happening right in front of you. And I think that I do my best when I'm in the zone and just letting things happen organically.

Obviously, you have a game plan, but for me, I do my best when I go out there with my toolbox and just fix the problem that's in front of me. What do you think? So you went where I want to go. That was so good. By the way, on the energy thing, you know, I was a division one college baseball player and I'm convinced. I was not probably a good enough player to go play at the level. I mean, everyone just so you know, when you're listening to this incredible woman speak, you're talking about one of the elite female athletes of the last decade in the United States. Just remember that when you're listening to her. So when this articulate, this vulnerable, this honest, you're talking about one of the elite athletes in the world. And this energy expense

is so important because everything in life is a transfer of energy. And one of the reasons that I convinced I'm not playing is I got so nervous, so worked up, so worried, so fearful before games that oftentimes by the time the first pitch came, I was fatigued, I was tired, and I've watched this with athletes that I've worked with. And it happens in presentations, happens in careers, you just expend too much energy. So I want to ask you a deep question here, and I know you'll be honest. What are you really fighting? In other words, I think most fighters and I've watched this with you and I've always wanted to ask you

this. I watch you. I miss Becandy with you. I watch you and I go, this is an amazing athlete. I don't think she's the most gifted athlete. I watch I look at a woman who's grinded and worked and earned everything she's got also I watch you and I think She wants to be somebody really bad and but she's also fighting something inside like all of us are Like I think just all of us are she wants to win. He just said a minute ago You know when I win then this will happen when I win, then this will happen. When I win, then that will happen. At its core, what do you think you're fighting? Like, what are you overcoming?

I just love to know that about you or do you not know yet? We all have our own demons, we all have our own. You know, there's, the good will from the bad will if I don't know if you've heard that story. And, you know, it's like the, the one that drives is the one you feed, there's the good wolf in the bad wolf. I don't know if you've heard that story. And you know, it's like the one that drives is the one you feed, right? And it's so, I just think that I've always

subconsciously fed the negativity, the doubt and the fear and the, and like all of those things. And so that's what I'm fighting. You know, I'm fighting against those thoughts in my mind. I'm fighting against those things that try to suppress the good wolf. All of my fears, honestly,

that's why I continue to fight because it forces me to face my fear. I signed that out of line. They closed the cage behind me, and there's no backing out. Do you recommend that for people in their dream, though? Like metaphorically, in order to really flourish, don't you think you have to close the cage

and just decide on here? Don't you think? I think most people leave the cage door open. Like if it doesn't go really well, if I get knocked down enough times, I'm gonna run out of this cage, don't you think? Absolutely, it's scary. It is the scariest thing you'll ever do,

but it's also the most rewarding thing you'll ever do. Like I think not enough of us give ourselves, put ourselves in harm's way. You know, we're always trying to protect ourselves and not just ourselves, our children, you know, because we don't want to see our children hurt, we don't want to see our children in pain. You know, and so we try to shy away from it, we try to keep them safe, but sometimes, you know, through the pain is the best way to learn.

Look at you. I love you. You're awesome. Speaking of that, 2011, you have your baby. And I'm wondering if that changed you in the way that you fight or what you're fighting for or the way you train or men never get asked this. But do you have any of the guilt when you're training?

They never ask a male fighter that, but it is something that women face, right? So how did that change you one way or the other, if at all? I mean, it changed me, I mean, for the best, you know, I think that it did a lot of things. It brought my husband and I closer together. You know, he, he, he also had a really, really promising boxing career that he gave up so that we can have a steady income and so that I can pursue my dream as a fighter. And it brought my husband and I close her and Aurea has been a part of my career since she before she was born. She didn't even know it.

When I didn't know I was pregnant, I was, she was in my belly and we were sparring. Really? And so she's a part of the team. And I think before I had her, fighting was a passion of mine. But I had to make a decision that when I did have her, if I was going to continue to fight, that it couldn't just be a passion. I had to make it something bigger than just a passion,

something bigger than just a hobby. It had to be something that I could consider a career. It had to be something that I could be proud to bring her along for the ride with, you know. And that's what we did. She must be so proud of you. And if she gets older and realizes more and more who her mama is, you know, what she's accomplished. When your kids are that age, you know, when they're 10, 11 years old, 9, 10, 11, 12 years old, my kids are that age. You're their mama or their daddy, so they love you.

But I think all of us want our children as they figure out who we are someday. Because we all figure out who our parents are at some point. We love our parents, but they become an age where you're like, oh, that's actually who my mom is in the world. That's who my dad is in the world. And I think all of us want to have that where our children are proud of us too. Those of us that have children. If we don't have children, make our parents proud of us. And that's what I see in you. I see that in

you. And I see that you wanting to do that for your husband as well. Now, would you ever want her to fight? It's up to her. It's up to her. You know, she, I don't think she wants to. She's expressed it. She's, you know, she comes to the gym with me. She's seen me be that pretty bad broken nose, broken hand, of close and personal. And so she just, in her mind, she'd rather do something. Something else. Yeah. No, no. What advice would you give to anybody listening to this?

Your daughter included who says, but this is my dream. I have this dream. everyone thinks I'm nuts. You know, I'm a ring card girl, and I would like to be a UFC champion someday, right? Or, you know, I'm a stay-at-home mom right now, but I would love to start a business and be Sarah Blakely from Spanx. Or, you know, I'd love to become an influencer on social

media and inspire people and move them or whatever it might be and they're just miles from it right now. It's just you know everyone would think they were crazy. What advice would you give to them or what would be the words that you would say to them about pursuing it. I think that we all, you know, would love to do something. We all wish to have this or wish to have that. We all dream of being this or being that. And like when you use the words like wish and want and hope, then that's what they are. They're just dreams and wishes and wants. And so you have to, you know, you have to do.

You have to put the action in. You know, if you have to, it can't be a dream. It has to be a goal. And you have to work on that goal every single day. And you have to put the time in. You have to put the energy in. And it's not going to happen overnight. And you have to understand that, and you have to understand that it's not going to happen in a year. And if it's something that you're passionate about,

the time shouldn't matter, the time will fly by. And as long as you keep putting your head down and grind it out, it will happen if you're passionate enough about it and if you care enough to see it through, it will. Okay, I already can tell you that's going to be one of the clips to promote the show because I was so damn good. Like, I totally love that and I love when I watch your face get emotional. I love it because you mean it so deeply. I think everybody wants to win, but then I do think there are people that just have this, and it's overused term, heart of a champion. But like, it's right on the edge.

It is for me too. Like, I want to be somebody. I want to make a difference. Like, it matters to me. It makes me emotional, and I can see that with you too, and obviously on a completely different level than me. But you have to want it so bad, bad guys that it brings you almost to tears. That it's right there. That's how you know you're in when you are so emotional about it, but you can't, you can't wake up thinking about it.

You go to sleep thinking about it. When you talk about it, missing out on it is so scary to you that it almost brings you to tears. You know, like it's got to be right there because I wanna ask you about that preparation. So basically, your answer is one that I would give, which is that you need to outwork everybody. Like, it's great that you think it and want it

and hope it and all that stuff. Like, you gotta fight for it, literally. But I don't think people often know at a world class level because there's a zillion people out there doing Muay Thai right now, or karate, or Kempo, they're learning to be the defensive skills. Then there's everybody in a gym, and then there's the little circuits,

and then there's moving up, and then there's strike force back in the day, and all the way up now, and then there's the UFC, and then there's staying there, and then there's the top 10, and then there's like five or eight women over the last decade of which you're one of. So just so everyone understands the context of this,

of what this woman's accomplished, right? And here's the thing, I was at the gym this weekend, and it was a Sunday, so it was cool. Anybody in there, I got respect for. But how, they think they're training. I'm saying, you know what I mean, right? You know what I'm going? They think they're training. I'm saying, you know what I mean? Right, you know what I'm going? They think they're training.

And I'm like, pick it up. Let's go, man. Like it's not four minutes in between sets. Like, stop yawning. Get off your phone. Bust your ass. Let's go get throw some energy at this. And I think the world class level of entrepreneurship, being a mom, being a dad,

faith, fighting. I don't think most people have an appreciation the extent of the work, the extent of the obsession. You know what I mean? Like that level. Describe for us, because we're running out of time and I want them to have this, so take your time on it. What's that look like? What's the elite level UFC top 10 in the world look like. What's the elite level UFC top 10 in the world look like in terms of the

work for you? The last Brazilian years you've been doing it up till now. Like you know what I you probably even trained with people like that's not the level. Even though they're a profiter, that's not the level. Can you describe what that's like? Well, I talk, think about my daughter and I think about some of the things that I try to instill within her even just now, at school, when she's doing her work, and I'm checking her work in the direction, say, complete two or three sentences in order

to answer this question. And she does the bare minimum, and she does two sentences. And I ask her why? And she said, because that's what the direction is saying. And I said, but does that get your complete thought down on the paper? Like, is that's what the director saying. And I said, but does that get your complete thought down on the paper? Like, is that the best you can do? Are you content with being average?

Because if you are, that's your choice. And those are the things that I ask her on a daily basis. Because I do. I want to grind it in her head. That she should not be content with being average. It's OK. But she should not be content with being averaged. It's okay, but she should not be content with being there, like she should want to propel herself forward.

And that is not something that I can do for her. It's only something that she can do for herself. And I think the same goes in fighting. And a lot of the times do the work sound so simple, but something that, you know, my very first instructor is to tell me just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy, you know, and so yeah, it's simple to work on a job,

but does that make it easy if you're doing it over and over and over again to perfect it the way that John Jones has his jobs, you know, and so sometimes the most simplest tasks are the ones that you have to work on to to be the best. And I think not enough of us appreciate or have really embraced the suck of work, the process, the meaty stuff of why it gets done. And that's what it is. It's like allowing yourself to get in the zone, to put your head down, to do the work, to get there before everybody else, to do the work, and to stay there.

And it's not because everybody left. It's because you're not done. When you know you're done, then you're done. And that's a different, that's a different done for everybody, you know, like you said, I'm, I'm, I definitely am probably one of the most clumsiest MMA fighters, not the most gifted, like naturally gifted, but I put in the work to get there, you know. And so, and I know that, and only I know that.

And only that person, like everybody will complain how come I haven't got there. Well, because you're complaining about how can you haven't got there instead of trying to figure out what it is that you did wrong, you know? So good, so good, so good, so good. I'm gonna have one more question for you, but I wanna acknowledge one thing that Michelle just said,

which is that I think it's the tedious work of like over and over and over and over again in life and business doing things that become monotonous and not getting bored with doing them to perfection. Nick Sabin says we don't do this until we get it right, we do it until we can't get it wrong. It's just a different standard with the best of the best of the best and that's why he's one seven national championships at Alabama. So Thank you for today number one. Now everybody's favorite fighter is you and everyone's gonna root for you. But I so I have to ask you one more thing because I just want to pull one last thing out of your brain And then I want to know what's next for you. So You have to have a superpower though Michelle to get to your level. You have a superpower. There's something about you, whether it's your work ethic, your intensity, your ability to focus, your speed, your power, your agility, your, I mean, I've worked with some fighters where they're superpowers, they actually love getting hit and absorb punishment better than most people, right?

So I'm curious, you've gotten where you've gotten, what would you say, and with no, don't use humility here, what is Michelle Waterson's superpower? What is yours do you think? You say don't use humility, but I guess what I would say my superpower is that I always feel like that there is so much more to learn. And I don't want that comes off as being humble. And so I'm like, what else is I,

you know, when we talk about fight or fly, I do have fight in me. Like, you know, when push comes to shove, you know, if I'm shoved, I'm pushing back. And so I know I have that in me. And, and that's it. Everybody, you have either one or the other, you know, I love that. And by the way, I think that is your superpower. I was, I thought you're going to say I outwork everybody, but I actually think the deeper answer is your humility, which is what causes you to outwork everybody, because you are so humble. And so I think that's actually the most honest true answer about you. That's what makes you a champion. It just totally does. So what's next for you? When are you fighting

again? Do you know? And by the way, where can we find you? So people can follow you. I'm proud of the most active on my Instagram. It's KarateHadi MMA. We've been, you know, this year, goal of mine is to try to be more active on my YouTube so that we can have a little bit more in depth relationship with the people that want to be involved. So across the board, it's KarateHadi MMA.

You can find me anywhere? As far as fight news, I don't have any. I was scheduled to fight this month. Life happened. We rolled the punches. And so we're probably thinking April, May timeframe for my next fight. Okay, but we're all rooting for you and you just picked up, you know, probably Millions more people that already loved you, but hopefully we've introduced the world to the way you think I just want to thank you because we got inside the mind of a champion We got inside the mind of a mother. We learned about the mental game. We learned about triggers We learned about humility. We learned about preparation Overcoming fears We learned about humility, we learned about preparation, overcoming fears.

I think you're the most honest guest I've had, and I'm so inspired by you. And I shouldn't say that, it's not fair to my other guests, but you're as honest a guest as I've ever had. And I enjoyed today so much. I just want to ask the audience to please share this with people that you care about. Everyone from young athletes to mothers to entrepreneurs,

to just people that want to be happier and overcome their fears and work on their self-confidence. Michelle is an absolute shining star, an example. So Michelle, thank you so much for today. Thank you. God bless everybody, max out. This is the end of my life, shall we?