Las Vegas, NV — Through just two UFC fights, women’s flyweight Miranda Maverick has established herself as a future contender. At UFC 260, Maverick picked up a unanimous decision win over Gillian Robertson, in a fight that saw the commentary team frequently singing her praises.
Her opponent was no pushover. Gillian Robertson has more experience in the UFC women’s flyweight division than any fighter. The pair were supposed to face off back in February, but Robertson fell ill the day of the fight. The setback was something Maverick referred to as “just a four week extension of the last fight camp.”
Come Saturday at UFC 260, Maverick looked strong. While she had to deal with the dangerous submission game of Robertson in the second round, “I was never in danger,” she said during the post-fight press conference following the bout. “I obviously knew I was losing position a couple of times, but I never felt in danger of a choke or anything else.” Maverick noted that she ware aware of exactly what was happening, but also admitted that getting back up or reversing the position “took me a little bit longer than I had wished.”
Maverick looking strong is nothing new. Her background, growing up on a farm with all the physical chores that comes with it, has seemingly been the perfect breeding ground for an MMA fighter.
“I feel like I always feel a significant strength advantage. Honestly being strong is one of my biggest strengths,” Maverick explained. “People have always said it. At first in my career, I didn’t like it, because nobody gave me credit for my technique. Now, I think it’s all well-rounded, everybody sees all of it.”
In addition to her strength, much has been made of Maverick’s size thus far in her UFC career. Saturday, there was a suggestion that she might have to make the move to bantamweight some day. Not so fast.
“I will never go to bantamweight, that’s not an option for me,” Maverick insisted. “I’m short, I am smaller, I just have a lot of muscle on my frame. And I’ll adjust to that as need be as I age. But for now, flyweight’s my home, and I feel very strong there.”
The high praise following Maverick thus far in her career, “I don’t think that effects me at all, honestly. I’m my harshest critic,” she stated. Her father, who was in her corner on Saturday, is number two. But in the end, Maverick will not let the hype go to her head. “The hype train, I don’t want to go in there and be like ‘well so and so said I’m the best, or this good, so I’m just going to go in there and do what I need to,” said Maverick. “I go back to the gym and I work on becoming that hype train every single day.”
As to who she’d like next, Maverick would love to face Antonina Shevchenko. “I’ve love to have any ranked opponent, to be honest, but I think it’d be exciting to go through one sister and then another.” Not that she sees herself fighting for gold just yet. But within two years, Maverick wants to have a shot for the UFC title.
Watch the full UFC 260 post-fight press conference with Miranda Maverick above.
