Former UFC flyweight Sabina Mazo has travelled a long road to get back into the cage, which she will do this Friday at LFA 164.
Mazo (9-4) last competed in March of 2022, losing to Miranda Maverick by submission. After exiting the UFC, she signed on with LFA, a promotion whose flyweight title she won and defended back in 2018.
Her return to the LFA cage was expected to come late last year, but injury hampered that.
“It was December, I broke my leg. It was very weird because I didn’t feel any pain at all, and it was a kind of fast recovery,” Mazo told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “Or at least, I didn’t stop. Everything I could do, I did training-wise. I went to the gym every single day to learn. So I took it as recovery for sure, but still like learning, not just like ‘I’m going to stop training and learning,’ not going to the gym.”
Recovery went by quick, added Mazo. “February, or January, I was already doing everything.”
Having fought for the biggest show in MMA, “The Colombian Queen” spoke about how her game has grown in recent years.
“For sure, experience. All these years, I’ve been getting a lot of experience. In the the past year, where I could take some time off from competition, it’s just growing skills,” explained Mazo. “It’s a moment where you can focus 100% on growing your game plan and evolving as a fighter. Because when you’re competing, yes you have some time frame after fights where you can just learn different techniques, but when you’re in fight camp you have to polish those things, and it’s going to be a little bit more towards a certain fight and your opponent. So the past year has been amazing, to have more time to just learn and grow and get better now.”
At LFA 164, Mazo challenges Sandra Lavado for the promotion’s vacant 125lb title. On the match-up, Mazo said that Lavado is “a warrior. Her nickname, Peruvian Zombie, says it all. She can handle punches, she goes through, she’s not going to surrender. I expect the best out of her. I’m hungry, and I want that belt. I just want for both of us to be in the cage, and give our best.”
Should she get the win, there’s a chance Mazo could get called back to the UFC. That’s not unheard of, even off a single win — Brandon Moreno did exactly that after his UFC release in 2019.
“For sure I’m 100% ready to go back, but I’m not rushing anything,” Mazo said of a possible return. “If I have to fight again, I will. I’m climbing again, I’m building myself with victories. I’m focused on one single thing right now, and it’s on August 4. After that, we’ll see what comes.”
Watch our full interview with LFA 164’s Sabina Mazo above.
