Atlanta, GA — Despite getting the win at the 2023 PFL 5 card in Atlanta this past Friday, women’s featherweight Marina Mokhnatkina knows she can do better.
In fact, she felt she could do better in her fight with Evelyn Martins, which wound up going the distance, earning Mokhnatkina three points — and, as it turned out, a spot in the PFL playoffs.
“After the first round, I feel it’s not going to happen how I want, and I need to do what I do better,” said Mokhnatkina (10-3) following the bout, speaking via translator and UFC heavyweight Serghei Spivac.
Since losing to Kayla Harrison in May of 2022, the Russian featherweight has won four straight fights, three of which have come under the PFL banner. After that setback, Mokhnatkina felt that “I need to believe more in myself.”
Martins was the lone fighter to miss weight for the 2023 PFL 5 card, and on that front, Mokhnatkina noted that “I think it’s unprofessional. But, she added, she “prepared for this fight so hard,” and there was no doubt coming in that she would be ready. “I think only about fighting,” she said when asked about her reaction to Martins’ miss.
Marina Mokhnatkina is set to face Amber Leibrock in the PFL 2023 semifinals.
Watch the full 2023 PFL 5 post-fight press conference appearance by Marina Mokhnatkina above.
