Las Vegas, NV — If you’re squeamish when it comes to blood, MMA probably isn’t the sport for you. Sabina Mazo, however, leans in the other direction. She downright loves blood, she told reporters including Cageside Press following her win Saturday at UFC 246.
Mazo (8-1) kicked off the UFC’s 2020 calendar year against JJ Aldrich. The flyweight pairing opened the card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and went the distance. Before the end, Aldrich was bloodied, but after a strong start, the bout ended up a split decision. Not a robbery, but a fight that probably could have gone either way.
Addressing her performance backstage, Mazo said she’s “the type of fighter that trains a lot and really worked my whole ass off in the camp. I was ready for this fight. I feel I gave a 100% to go in there and feel a hundred perfect confident.”
There were adjustments to be made, specifically in “the middle of the fight. My corners kind of helped me. Whoever knows Kings MMA, [the] clinch is something of a signature. We train other things, but they were the ones who kind of guided me as well, and made those adjustments to put the work in.”
And when it got bloody? No problem. “I’m a fighter that loves blood. I love to fight, I love those types of fights,” Mazo said. “Of course you want to get the victory always. One way or the other, with blood or without blood, I’m always trying to achieve the victory. But I’m pretty confident, I put the work in to get the victory, and I saw the fight at the end as my victory.” In other words, she never had any doubt that she’d done enough. Two of the judges agreed.
Mazo addressed her near-miss at the scales as well, noting that it’s something she plans to work on. She did weigh-in, with the extra hour, successfully in the end. Asked whether the tough weight cut had any impact on the fight, Mazo said it didn’t. “I recovered pretty good, I just had a little bit of complications on the last 0.2lbs – but finally we made it with the help of everyone.”
With the win over Aldrich, Mazo has now won two in a row, building off a win last year against Shana Dobson. Asked who she wants next, Mazo told Cageside Press that “anyone that’s available, I’ll take it. I don’t like to call [out] anyone, because I want to make my way there. For me, anyone that is on the list, it’s part of my way, so I’ll take anyone.”
Watch the full UFC 246 post-fight press scrum with “The Colombian Queen” Sabina Mazo above!
