Gillian Robertson put on a gutsy performance at UFC 269 as she submitted Priscila Cachoeira. She managed to do it despite getting her eye gouged during the submission.
Priscila Cachoeira put her thumbs in Gillian Robertson's eyes as she was squeezing her neck for the rear-naked-choke finish. She managed to finish the choke at the last second of the first round. UFC 269 kicked off with a bang.
“I’m definitely just hoping that the referee stops the fight at that point,” said Robertson (video provided by MMA Fighting, transcription via Bloody Elbow). “Like, I don’t even think he gave her a warning because there was two that were pretty clear that I felt decent that was like thumb straight in my eye. But I was just trying to squeeze, squeeze. Before the first one, I actually felt her body go limp a little bit, so I thought she was out, and then I felt the thumb go straight in my eye. I was like, ‘Oh, she’s not out! OK!’”
Gillian Robertson holds no ill will towards her opponent at UFC 269. A fight is a fight, no matter what happens out there.
“For me, I just let it slide. I don’t know, it’s a fight. Sometimes, I guess you don’t really know what’s going through her head. I don’t know. She was probably in a moment of desperation, didn’t really have a defense, so her defense was her eye gouge. So, I don’t necessarily have any hard feelings towards her for that or professionally. Like I said, it’s not great to miss weight, but other than that, it is what it is. We fought it out and we can hug at the end of the day.”
The good news is, the cheating didn't stop Robertson from getting the job done at UFC 269. She now continues to add big finishes to her record and will look to continue improving.
