Gina Mazany made a big move ahead of her UFC Vegas 15 fight this weekend.
Mazany (6-4), originally from Anchorage, Alaska, had been training with Xtreme Couture out in Las Vegas. But now in her second stint in the UFC, “Danger” switched things up, making the move to Missouri to join Glory MMA and Fitness under James Krause. Mazany’s fiance, Tim Elliott, trains there as well.
Once a bantamweight, the 32-year old is also dropping down a weight class. She’ll be making her flyweight debut against Hawaii’s Rachel Ostovich on Saturday.
Ostovich went on record at the UFC Vegas 15 media day to say she felt like it could be her last fight in the UFC, should she lose. Mazany has experienced that feeling before herself — but not ahead of this fight. “This is me at a new weight class, coming down from 135. I genuinely feel like this isn’t even close to the end. I really feel like it’s just a new beginning,” she told Cageside Press. “I moved gyms, I moved states, I moved coaches. I’m in my opinion training with one of the best coaches in the world, James Krause. And I just feel like there’s nothing but up from here.”
Of course, the move down in weight hasn’t been a walk in the park. “I’m hungry,” Mazany said slyly, before adding that she was kidding. But the soon to be debuting flyweight admitted that “it’s been quite a transition in the sense that I had to really clean up my diet. I’ve been on, I’ll call it a strict diet for the past ten weeks. Was just on a heavy, heavy training schedule. When I came there, James Krause put me on a pretty crazy schedule that I don’t think a lot of people could handle.”
That heavy schedule included more than just two-a-days. “There were some days that I would be training four times a day, I would have four sessions a day.”
The payoff has been there so far. “I feel great at flyweight,” Mazany stated. “The dieting obviously sucks, because I love food. Who doesn’t love food? But I felt like as I’ve gotten smaller, I just feel faster. I feel I’m throwing a lot quicker, I still feel strong.”
This weekend, of course, will be the real test. But “Danger” appeared to be in a positive state of mind. Helped out, perhaps, by some less common training techniques. Mazany mixes meditation with her training, especially prior to going to bed. Sleep, after all, is a little tougher with an “empty, growly tummy.” She’s been doing it for a while now, and while her busy training schedule means she can’t meditate during the day, “in the evenings, I definitely still meditate. For sure.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 15 virtual media day press scrum with Gina Mazany above. The event takes place this Saturday, November 28, airing live on ESPN. The main card kicks off at 10PM ET.
