Victoria Leonardo grateful for first UFC win after back-to-back broken arms in losses

LONDON – To say Victoria Leonardo needed a win Saturday is one thing. But she may have been just happy to leave the cage uninjured.

Leonardo (9-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) swept the scorecards in a unanimous decision win over Mandy Bohm (7-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 208 at The O2 in London. Not only was it her first win in the UFC, but it was the first time she left the UFC cage without a broken arm.

Her UFC debut in January 2021 was a TKO loss to Manon Fiorot, and she left the cage with a broken arm. When she returned in August 2021, she went two rounds with Melissa Gatto, but the fight was stopped before Round 3 when the cageside doctor said she couldn’t continue with, almost improbably, another broken arm.

But Saturday in London, she got through unscathed – at least as far as her arm is concerned – and got that all-important first UFC win.

“Of course it’s been on my mind – I came back from two back-to-back broken arms,” Leonardo said at his post-fight news conference. “But it also helped me feel like I finally get to show what I have to offer tonight. I mean, what are the odds that I break (my arm) three times in a row?

“… I feel good. I’m grateful that I had a chance to show what I can really do – or part of what I can do. I feel like I’m still learning and I can definitely get better.”

Check out Leonardo’s full post-fight interview in the video above.