For UFC flyweight Gina Mazany, her third round TKO win over Rachael Ostovich this past November at UFC Fight Night was not just any victory, but rather a turning point in her career.
Having gone into the bout with three losses in her last four fights, Mazany made the choice to uproot nearly every aspect of her career and so far the changes have paid off.
“That was a life changing experience for me. I put in a really tough 15-week fight camp, moved down to a new weight class, moved to a new state, moved to a new gym, got a new coach, and came out victorious, so that was probably one of my proudest moments of my career so far,” Mazany told MMAWeekly.com.
“After my last 135-pound fight (versus Julia Avila in June of 2020) I thought I was done with fighting. I was going to hang them up. I was pretty over it. James Krause wanted to coach me, and now I think things are just beginning. My new career is set to flourish.”
For Mazany, making all the changes in her career just came down to her not giving into self-doubt, and instead let the systems she had put in place around her do what they were designed to.
“It was one of those things where just had to trust the people around me and genuine trust the process,” said Mazany. “That was probably the biggest thing about it. I just trusted the process for it and everything kind of fell into place. A lot of hard work went into it, but I made it happen.”
On May 15 in Houston, Texas, Mazany (7-4) will look to pick up her second win in a row when she faces off against Priscila Cachoeira (9-3) in a 125-pound preliminary bout at UFC 262.
Marina Rodriguez more than willing to fight Joanna Jedrzejczyk
“She’s coming off a big win, a knockout, she’s big and scary, throws bombs, but I think I am a little more well-rounded,” Mazany said of facing Cachoeira. “I have great wrestling. I have great ground. I have great striking. I have a gas tank. I think it’s a good match-up for me.
“I think she kind of gets tuckered out on the grappling exchanges, and that’s where I really thrive. I see some holes I can exploit in her striking game as well. I think it will be a really good, exciting, fun fight.”
With the changes she’s made and with where she’s at on her career timeline, now has to be the time for Mazany, even if she approaches each bout as it comes.
“Definitely I’m taking one fight at a time,” said Mazany. “Tim (Elliott) and I want to fight as much as we possibly can. We’re getting older, but right now we’re healthy and uninjured, so if a fight opens up for me I’m going to take it.
“It’s definitely one fight at a time but I definitely don’t intend to stop this ball from rolling.”
Gina Mazany sees holes in Priscila Cachoeira’s game heading into UFC 262
