MMA: Jackson-Wink teammates are at different spots in career heading into UFC 287
Apr. 5—Michelle Waterson-Gomez fights MMA because she loves it. That's equally true for Steve Garcia, Waterson-Gomez's teammate at Albuquerque's Jackson-Wink MMA.
Here's the difference. Waterson-Gomez, financially independent at 37, fights only because she loves it. Garcia, 30, fights paycheck to paycheck.
"For me, it's about taking care of my family," said Garcia (13-5), who's scheduled to face China's Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (39-10) on Saturday's UFC 287 in Miami, in a phone interview. "I take one fight at a time, one foot in front of the other. That's how I've been doing it my entire career."
For Waterson-Gomez (18-10), a movie actress, stuntwoman and a successful Albuquerque restaurateur with her husband, Joshua Gomez, the reality is quite different. Any pressure she feels as she prepares to face Brazil's Luana Pinheiro (10-2) on Saturday in Miami is not financial but self-imposed.
Of her continued love for the sport, she said, "it's something that really fires me up, gets me motivated, gets me up in the middle of the night sometimes.
"And it just reminds me to live a life of fulfillment."
Still, Waterson-Gomez hasn't forgotten the nights she spent in the dormitories at the old Jackson-Wink gym on Acoma Southeast. She remembers working as a waitress at Hooters while trying to make a name for herself in her chosen sport.
"Yeah, that's kind of the grind," she said, "and it's something I've been talking about to a lot of fighters in the gym. ... It's a lot of sacrifice, it's a lot of hustle. It's a lot of time spent away from your family."
Waterson-Gomez, immensely popular (1.7 million followers on Instagram) and with established drawing power, recently signed a new eight-fight UFC contract.
Garcia (6,047 Instagram followers) has a new four-fight contract of his own. But as recently as October, he was on the last fight of his previous contract, had lost two of his last three and (so far as he knew) was fighting for his UFC life as a decided underdog against Chase Hooper.
His victory over Hooper by first-round TKO gave him a new contract and a new outlook.
Still, he wants more — more of the financial security enjoyed by teammates like Waterson-Gomez and Holly Holm.
"I'll be honest with you, (an MMA career) is not for the weak," he said. "You have your ups, you have your downs. It's really like a roller coaster; that's probably the best way I can explain it.
"That (feeling) doesn't go away, man. ... Everything I do is to win and win in the best fashion I can. Anything less, I'm really not content with that."
THE MATCHUPS: In Pinheiro, Waterson-Gomez sees a fighter relatively new to the UFC who's not fully ready for the level of competition she'll face on Saturday.
"She has a pretty impressive record," Waterson-Gomez said, "but I just don't think she's fought the caliber of girls that I've fought.
"So I'm looking at getting in there and putting on a great performance."
The fight will be contested at the 115-pound strawweight limit.
In Nuerdanbieke, Garcia is facing an accomplished wrestler who, though he has 19 wins by knockout or TKO, would be content to take Saturday's fight to a decision.
"I'm the opposite," Garcia said. "I'd rather finish all my fights and go out on my shield if I had to.
"If I can keep it on my feet, stay long, not get in his world against the cage ... at the end of the day, that's my biggest opponent is the clock ticking down and losing a decision."
They'll fight at the 145-pound featherweight limit.
BIRTHDAY GIRL: Haylee, Garcia's daughter, turns 10 on Saturday.
"(The timing) kind of sucks," Garcia said, "but it gives me something to aim for."
ANOTHER CONNECTION: Bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. (7-0), who's scheduled to face Christian Rodriguez (8-1) on Saturday, was born in Clovis. He and his family moved to Santa Rosa, California, when he was 13.
Saturday
UFC 287, Miami-Dade Arena, Miami: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya, Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Luana Pinheiro, Steve Garcia vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. 8 p.m., ESPN+ PPV (Pereira-Adesanya); 6 p.m., ESPN/espn+ (Waterson-Gomez-Pinheiro); 4 p.m., UFC Fight Pass (Garcia-Nuerdanbieke)
