Following Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov's eventful headline bout at UFC 229, one man who was not impressed with what he saw was RTE analyst Joe Brolly.
The former Derry footballer was scathing in his appraisal of the sport in his Sunday Independent column, comparing the sport to slave fighting and even denouncing its status as a sport.
One person he took aim at in the course of his broadside is UFC fighter Michelle Waterson, with the strawweight fighter up against Felice Herrig at UFC 229:
The Karate Hottie (real name Michelle Waterson), who has done naked photo shoots and boasted in a pre-fight interview, "I've beaten up some of my opponents so badly, they have actually shat themselves during the fight", was matched with Felice Herrig, a seriously dangerous looking white woman.
Brolly seems to have hung her entire character on the fact that she boasted about making fighters shit themselves but in the interview he is presumably referencing, Waterson does not come across as the crude, brash character that Brolly presents.
Why Brolly felt the need to highlight the fact that Waterson has done naked photo shoots is beyond me, the shoot in question was for ESPN's body issue, in which featured dozens of athletes including Caroline Wozniaki, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Serena Williams.
In any case Waterson has responded to his comments, with the fighter questioning his education when it comes to the sport of MMA.
It's easy to cast judgment on others when you've never walked a day in their shoes. Martial arts is a way of life in which you learn through experience, most likely something @JoeBrolly1993 would know nothing about.
— Michelle Waterson (@karatehottiemma) October 16, 2018
Brolly responded to Waterson's tweet with a more diplomatic response around his feelings about MMA, but it was no doubt how the pundit characterised Waterson that rankled with the fighter:
If you do not want anyone to comment, fight in private. I saw your fight. You are clearly an incredibly skilled, courageous combatant. My view is that the sport simply too violent and the culture around it is not healthy. That aside, I wish you well.
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) October 16, 2018
