It’s been over a year since we last saw Shana Dobson, who returns this Saturday at UFC 241 against LFA alum Sabina Mazo.
Anaheim, CA — There’s a bit of a theme at UFC 241 this weekend, when it comes to fighters returning from long layoffs. Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Nate Diaz. Add Shana Dobson (3-2) to the list. ‘Danger’ appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 26, and has gone 1-1 in the UFC. However, injury has kept her out over the past year.
Returning to action against Sabina Mazo, an LFA veteran, Dobson told Cageside Press Thursday that “it’s been a minute. It’s great to be here, it’s great to be back. It’s been time off from the cage, but like I’ve been saying, it hasn’t been time off from training, from the grind. The way that my team, how we get it, I felt active the whole entire time.”
Explaining her absence, Dobson said that “I had a small setback, I had an injury that I had to recover and come back from, but I’m feeling stronger and better than ever.”
She’ll test that against ‘The Colombian Queen’ Mazo. “I’ve heard a lot about her hype. Obviously she’s had some impressive finishes by head kick knockout,” Dobson acknowledged. “But like I said, every opponent comes in with their thing. But they haven’t gotten in the cage with me. They haven’t faced me.”
In preparation for Mazo, “we’ve studied her, we’ve done a lot of film study, we’ve done a lot of situations where she could come in with something different, she could come in the same. We’re prepared for anything and everything.” In other words, Dobson feels she has all the bases covered.
Dobson will be going early on the card Saturday, which threw her off initially, but may have a silver lining. “When I found out I was fighting early, at first I was like ‘man, that kind of throws off my routine.’ But I’m actually kind of excited about it. I get to get it out of the way, go ahead and get my W, go ahead and get some good greasy food after that,” she said. Plus, with a teammate on the card, she’s planning to stick around to take in the event. It’s not that often you land on such a big card, after all.
Watch our full interview with Sana Dobson ahead of UFC 241 above!
