Sabina Mazo won a razor-close battle in what was the first bout in the UFC Octagon in the new year, and decade.
Sabina Mazo and JJ Aldrich had the honor of kicking off 2020 for the UFC on Saturday. The strawweight pair opened up UFC 246 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card might be best known for the return of one Conor McGregor, but it also had a number of young talents, including Mazo, the ‘Colombian Queen’ who was looking to make it two in a row at the event.
While Mazo entered the fight off a win last year against Shana Dobson, Aldrich was in a similar situation, having defeated Lauren Mueller last time out. Aldrich, in fact, was 4-1 across her past five contests.
Here is how the fight went down:
Round 1
Aldrich came out in the southpaw stance while Mazo took the center in an orthodox stance. The Colombian fighter came out with a heavy kicking game plan while the American kept circling to her left to avoid the strikes. Aldrich was the first to land anything clean with a hard straight left hand. Mazo kept tracking down her opponent with her long strikes. Both fighters took turns darting into the pocket and fired off combinations. Aldrich appeared to be the faster fighter and landed the better shots. With a minute remaining in the round, she snapped Mazo’s head back twice with two hard straight left hands.
Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Aldrich
Round 2
Mazo came out very aggressively to start the round popping out a jab. The American tagged her with a hard 1-2 combination but the former LFA champion continued to press the action. However it was Aldrich that was landing the harder shots. The Kings MMA representative began to chop at Aldrich’s legs but continually got countered with clean combinations from Aldrich. Midway through the round, Mazo hit Aldrich with a perfectly timed step-in knee. Aldrich stayed on her game plan and responded with another combination. With 90 seconds left in the round, Aldrich smashed Mazo with two sharp left hands. The punches caused Mazo’s nose to start dripping blood. Mazo grabbed the plum clinch and attacked with a few hard knees to the body and head. She snapped Aldrich’s head back with a perfectly timed head kick as the round came to end.
Mazo’s late rally made the round close.
Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Aldrich
Round 3
Mazo came out very aggressive again but was tagged by Aldrich. Mazo grabbed the clinch and fired off some brutal body kicks. She pressed Aldrich against the cage but couldn’t get the American down. Aldrich started to slow down a bit and Mazo picked up the pace. She grabbed the plum clinch once again and hurt Aldrich with a series of hard knees and elbows. She pressed her against the fence and went back to work. Aldrich’s nose began to pour blood. The referee broke the clinch without a warning to Mazo to stay active. After the break, Aldrich began to pick up the action and started to land some clean shots. As the round came to an end, Mazo grabbed the clinch once again and hit Aldrich with a crushing knee as the round expired.
Big round for Mazo.
Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Mazo.
Cageside Press scored the fight 29-28 Aldrich
Official Results: Sabina Mazo beats JJ Aldrich by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
