UFC 274 Fighter to Watch: Melissa Gatto
Unbeaten Brazilian looks to spoil Tracy Cortez's homecoming on Saturday night by collecting her third straight UFC victory
Name: Melissa Gatto
Nickname: N/A
Record: 8-0-2 overall, 2-0 UFC
Division: Flyweight
Team: MSP Gym
Opponent: Tracy Cortez (9-1 overall, 3-0 UFC)
There were a couple years there where it felt like Melissa Gatto was going to end up being one of those athletes that signs with the UFC, is listed on the roster for a long time, but never ends up making her way into the Octagon.
She was first signed by the promotion in 2019 and expected to debut at UFC 237, but a series of different issues — a tainted supplement, some injuries and ailments, visa challenges — continually pushed that first start back further and further, leading to a resume on Tapology with a handful of cancellations stacking on top of her 2018 first-round finish of ranked Brazilian bantamweight Karol Rosa.
After nearly two years of waiting and clearing hurdles, Gatto finally made her first start in the UFC last summer, collecting a stoppage win over Victoria Leonardo at the close of the second round when the Dana White’s Contender Series grad was unable to continue after suffering a broken arm. While Leonardo wanted to continue fighting — and Gatto welcomed the chance to get more experience inside the UFC cage — the fight was halted and the Brazilian had secured her first victory in the UFC.
It was one of those performances that set a clear baseline for where the 26-year-old stood in the division without putting any real cap on how far she could climb. She was expected to beat Leonardo, and doing so in dominant fashion simply confirmed that Gatto didn’t need to spend any more time mixing it up with athletes in the lower half of the flyweight division, but what came next is what really made me (and likely others) sit up and take notice of the emerging newcomer.
Four months after dispatching Leonardo in Houston, Gatto stepped in opposite Sijara Eubanks for her sophomore appearance in the Octagon. It was a dramatic step up in competition, going from the overmatched DWCS grad to the former TUF finalist who had turned in a dominant showing of her own in her return to the flyweight five months earlier.
Facing Eubanks was a litmus test for Gatto and she passed with flying colours, stopping the powerful veteran early in the third round, digging her toes into Eubanks’ midsection and sending her crumpling to the canvas. As impressive as the finish was — and it was lovely — the fight as a whole provided crucial takeaways about what Gatto has to offer in the division, as she worked her way through being out-worked and out-muscled in the first to reverse the momentum in the second, controlling the final three minutes of the frame on the canvas.
Eubanks is excellent on the ground, and especially hard to deal with in top position, but throughout the first two rounds, Gatto showed good control and active hips, minimizing the damage Eubanks could pile up and threatening with different submission setups that forced Eubanks to not open up too much. The gruelling battle also showed that conditioning isn’t an issue for Gatto, as she worked hard on the canvas for the majority of the first 10 minutes, but still looked fresh and crisp to start the third, moving well in the moments before connecting with the finishing blow.
The victory re-set the baseline for Gatto and put her in a position to challenge for a place in the Top 15 in her sophomore season, which kicks off this weekend with her bout against Cortez.
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This is going to sound odd, perhaps harsh, but part of the reason I’m intrigued by Gatto this weekend is because I haven’t been particularly impressed by Cortez thus far, and I think it creates a breakout opportunity for the Brazilian, who enters as an underdog.
Cortez, who grew up in the Phoenix community of Maryvale and trains at Fight Ready MMA, has won nine straight, including a questionable split decision win over Erin Blanchfield, a DWCS victory over Mariya Agapova, and three straight decisions to start her UFC tenure, the first two coming at bantamweight and the most recent — a split decision win over Justine Kish — coming at flyweight, with Cortez missing the divisional limit by half-a-pound.
She’s a wrestling-heavy grinder who has previously struggled to make 126 pounds… sound familiar?
In terms of assessing her talents and sorting out where she fits in the division, I think Cortez benefits from her appearance, her association with a great team, and her relationship with featherweight standout Brian Ortega, all of which contribute to folks having an elevated opinion on what she brings to the table, because the efforts themselves have only been okay thus far.
She handily beat Vanessa Melo, an undersized bantamweight who struggled mightily in the UFC, and outworked Stephanie Egger, who took the fight on nine days notice just a month after her previous fight, before failing to make weight and barely squeaked one out against Kish. They were all perfectly fine performances, but there was nothing that made me believe that Cortez has Top 10 potential.
Now contrast that with Gatto, who ran through Leonardo the way you’re supposed to run through an overmatched opponent, and then scored a third-round finish over a game, experienced veteran in Eubanks after spending the first five minutes of the fight stuck on bottom. She’s two years younger than Cortez and brandishes a two-inch reach advantage, which should be a factor given how much the hometown favourite is likely going to look to get inside and force grappling exchanges.
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This just feels like one of those instances where the more known, more popular fighter (Cortez) is going to garner more attention and is stationed as the betting favourite simply because people don’t know to be checking for Gatto and haven’t been paying attention to her rise.
There are a ton of outstanding fights on tap for this weekend, and some big names that are sure to soak up the lion’s share of the spotlight before, during, and after the event, but keep an eye on the unbeaten Brazilian flyweight competing early in the night, because I think she’s someone people will be talking more about on Monday and we’ll hear more from within the talent-rich division later this year.