Gillian Robertson: Still Waiting to Rank Up
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 251 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
After scoring another submission win at UFC on ESPN 11—her fifth in five wins—Gillian Robertson seemed primed to land a spot on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight rankings. Especially since her latest victim, Cortney Casey, held the No. 15 spot in the lead up to the fight. However, as Robertson puts it, the chance to leap frog Casey into the rankings was removed from the equation days before the event. Leaving her in the same position as before. In pursuit of another ranked opponent to help raise her stock.
“Casey was ranked at 15. Five days before our fight, the UFC randomly changed the rankings,” Robertson recalled to Sherdog. “Nobody fought or anything. So, it definitely was upsetting to see that I didn’t have an opportunity to be ranked after that. And Molly McCann got ranked after I already finished her [in May of 2018]. But no matter what, I’m in no rush. I’m here to fight from the bottom to the top. I fought Molly McCann. No. 14 is Ji Yeon Kim and she’s already matched up. No. 12 and 13 [are] Antonina Shevechenko and Montana De La Rosa. They both seem pretty available, so I would like to have those two across the cage in the near future.”
Along with airing her disappointment in not earning a ranking, Robertson also expressed her frustrations with former strawweight Cynthia Calvillo jumping the line into the No. 2 spot following her recent win over Jessica Eye. In addition, “Savage” talked about pulling out of her co-main event matchup at Submission Underground 16 after a training partner tested positive for COVID-19. She also spoke on her hopes to compete for them after her UFC suggested 14-day quarantine ends, and her belief that she is a better grappler than planned opponent and SUG star Amanda Loewen.