Waterson-Gomez vs Pinheiro

Who won Waterson-Gomez vs Pinheiro?

Luana Pinheiro beat Michelle Waterson-Gomez by split decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of UFC 287, on Saturday 8th April 2023 at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Luana Pinheiro.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Women’s Strawweight division, which meant the weight limit was 115 pounds (8.2 stone or 52.2 KG).

Waterson-Gomez vs Pinheiro stats

Michelle Waterson-Gomez stepped into the octagon with a record of 18 wins, 10 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 9 by submission.

Luana Pinheiro made her way to the cage with a record of 10 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 2 of those wins coming by knock out and 5 by submission.

Michelle Waterson-Gomez's UFC record stood at 6-8-0, while Luana Pinheiro's came in at 3-1-0.

The stats suggested Pinheiro had a slight advantage in power over Waterson, with a 20% knock out percentage over Waterson's 17%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested that Waterson and Pinheiro would have been pretty equal, both with a 50% submission rate.

Michelle Waterson-Gomez was the older woman by 8 years, at 38 years old.

Pinheiro had a height advantage of 1 inch over Waterson. Despite this, both fighters had equal reach.

Waterson was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 17 more fights, and made her debut in 2007, 9 years and 7 months earlier than Pinheiro, whose first professional fight was in 2016. She had fought 50 more professional rounds, 73 to Pinheiro's 23.

Waterson-Gomez vs Pinheiro form

Michelle Waterson-Gomez had beaten 4 of her last 5 opponents.

In her last fight before this contest, she had won against Angela Hill at UFC Vegas 10 on 12th September 2020 by split decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, she had lost to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC on ESPN+ 19 on 12th October 2019 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at Amalie Arena, Tampa.

Going into that contest, she had beaten Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC on ESPN 2 on 30th March 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia.

Before that, she had defeated Felice Herrig at UFC 229 on 6th October 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

She was victorious against Cortney Casey at UFC on FOX 29 on 14th April 2018 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

Activity check

Waterson's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years and 4 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 1 year, 2 months and 15 days. In those fights, she fought a total of 19 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.8 rounds on average.

Pinheiro's last 2 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 17 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 25 days. In those fights, she fought a total of 4 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Waterson-Gomez vs Pinheiro?

Michelle Waterson-Gomez was a 13/10 (+130) underdog going into the contest, while Luana Pinheiro made her way into the ring at 8/13 (-160) with oddsmakers.