Miranda Maverick, a veteran of Invicta FC and winner of the Phoenix Series II one-night tournament in that promotion, finally made her octagon debut on Saturday. At UFC 254, Maverick had been paired up with Georgia’s Liana Jojua, who recently picked up her first win on the big stage.
Maverick, a full-time PhD student and Teaching Assistant, had a lot to juggle alongside her fighting career. In fact, she’d been studying and teaching classes remotely all the way up to her debut on Fight Island on Saturday.
When the fight began, Jojua had her striking on point early. The Georgian’s punches were crisp, and her right hand was finding the mark. Maverick landed a counter left, and mixed in a leg kick or two as the round got going. Before long, Maverick hand opened up a cut on Jojua. The epitome of brains and brawn, Maverick had the clear edge in power. The key was going to be to mix up her attacks, something she was able to do more and more past the midway point of the round. In the final minute, a nasty elbow from Maverick cracked Jojua right on the nose, busting her open.
The pair then headed to the second, or so it seemed. Between rounds, the cut on the nose from the elbow would not stop bleeding. Against Jojua’s pleas, the ref waved off the fight. Miranda Maverick had the TKO win in her promotional debut.
Official Result: Miranda Maverick def. Liana Jojua by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 1, 5:00
