Lina Lansberg did just enough in a grinding, plodding affair at UFC Liverpool, earning the decision win over Gina Mazany.
TUF 18 alumni Gina Mazany took on Muay Thai champion Lina Lansberg as part of the preliminary card at UFC Liverpool in Liverpool, England on Saturday. Mazany, who took several years off from MMA while working as a graphic artist for Facebook games, was hoping to build off her first UFC win, at UFC Shanghai last November. Lansberg, who joined the UFC as cannon fodder for Cris Cyborg back when Cyborg was fighting at 140lb catchweights, meanwhile, was looking to bounce back from a TKO loss to Aspen Ladd.
‘Danger’ and the ‘Elbow Queen’ went to the clinch early in their bantamweight battle, with Mazany pressing Lansberg into the cage. She was looking for a takedown, but as Lansberg fought it off, she settled with launching some knees instead. A brief separation, and Mazany moved back to the clinch, adding more knees to the equation. If she could continue working the thigh, those might have some effect later in the fight. However, Lansberg reversed, cinching a body lock. However, after a lengthy grappling exchange the ref eventually broke them up, restarting the action with mere seconds left in the round.
Between rounds, Mazany actually commented to her corner that Lansberg was “boring.” It also appeared that Mazany was ready to retch. Still, she made it out for round two.
The second saw another lengthy grappling exchange along the fence, but this time the ref opted to break it up a little sooner. That allowed Mazany to work her way to a takedown, but it was rather short lived. Lansberg worked right back up, and they stayed a little more active, trading strikes in the clinch, before Lansberg put pressure back on her opponent, grinding her into the fence. That led to a second break from ref Marc Goddard, which in turn resulted in a body kick from Lina Lansberg hitting home. To that point in the fight, the kick was probably the most significant strike of the affair. After that, however, it was right back to the clinch, with Lansberg and Mazany trading elbows. Mazany then secured a takedown with roughly ninety seconds left on the clock, but once again it was over in mere seconds. Knees and elbows in the clinch followed, with ‘The Elbow Queen’ landing a big one over the top. Mazany would launch a kick upstairs to end the round, and that would take them to the third.
The pair stayed a little more active to open the third round, but again, much of the fight was contested against the fence. Towards the end of the round, they began working more in the center, with Mazany throwing combinations, and scoring with a right hand. She displayed good movement, but it wasn’t long before Lina Lansberg dragged things back to the cage wall. They’d finish there, and Lansberg took the unanimous decision on the scorecards.
Lina Lansberg vs. Gina Mazany by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
