For the first time in her professional mixed martial arts career, Gillian Robertson felt like she needed to take a step back.
As someone who loves to be active, it was a difficult concept for Robertson to grasp at first. Robertson had racked up nine UFC appearances in just over three years and she didn’t want to lose her competitive edge by sitting on the sidelines.
But back-to-back losses made the 26-year-old realize that she needed to spend some more time adding to her toolbox.
“I’ve been constantly fighting, just staying busy, and I’ve never really had a lot of time to just improve myself as a fighter, in general,” Robertson told UFC.com. “This really gave me a little bit of time to take a step back and work on my skills and make me a more well-rounded MMA fighter. I feel like I’ve never been more ready to step into the cage.”
Robertson believes that time off has paid dividends, and with almost nine months between her last bout and her UFC 269 fight against Priscilla Cachoeira, she’s confident that she’s going to surprise some people with her development as a striker.
She feels “transformed” as a striker and can’t wait to finally step into the Octagon and show off the new and improved “Savage” against Cachoeira.
Understanding that she doesn’t have to be flawless takes pressure off the shoulders of Robertson and allows her to focus on fighting her fight. That’s when she’s at her best, and now that her standup game has evolved, she feels like UFC 269 is truly her time to shine.
“I feel like this is an ideal matchup for me because on the ground I feel like it’s going to be my world pretty dominantly,” Robertson said. “Obviously, she is a threat on her feet, she’s proven it in her last two fights specifically that she has a lot of power. Even in the fights previous to that, you see when she connects with her right hand, she definitely has power, and the girls recognize that. The girls usually shoot right after she lands her big right hand. I know she’s going to be a threat on the feet, and she has a lot to offer, but I feel like this is going to be my fight.”
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Robertson sees this fight with Cachoeira as the perfect chance to lay the foundation for a major run in the flyweight division. She knows she has taken some lumps in her young career, but she draws inspiration from UFC 269 headliner Charles Oliveira and his UFC journey.
“You look at Charles Oliveira, he’s in the main event this weekend,” Robertson said. “He doesn’t have a perfect record but he’s up there as the champ defending his belt right now.”
