LFA 9's Sabina Mazo happy to represent women's growth 'in every aspect'

Flyweight Sabina Mazo may be just starting off her MMA career, but she’s no stranger to competition.

Heading into tonight’s LFA 9 event, where she faces U.S. Army veteran Jamie Thorton (4-2), 20-year-old Mazo (2-0) relies on her background in various forms of combat sports to look for the third win on her undefeated professional MMA record.

“I love to compete,” Mazo told AXS TV Fights’ Ron Kruck. “So I competed in jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, boxing, and I tried to compete not only in Colombia, but also tried to go more to South America. And I did pretty well. I won different national jiu-jitsu championships – muay Thai, kickboxing also in Bolivia.

“I love to compete, I was born for that, so boxing, jiu-jitsu, everything and MMA. It’s everything.”

LFA 9 takes place at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Okla., and the main card airs live on AXS TV.

Born in Colombia, Mazo moved to the U.S. a year and a half ago looking to focus on her MMA career. She currently trains under Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, where she takes classes with the likes of former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

But more than the high-level preparation, she said, the gym has helped her grow “as a fighter and as a person,” making the new life in a new country less intimidating than she’d anticipated.

“I thought it was going to be a little bit harder because it’s a different culture,” Mazo said. “But everything has been awesome. The training is really hard. All the fighters that train with me are good.”

In spite of being in the early stages of her fighting career, Mazo acknowledges the bigger role she plays as a Colombian woman making her way up the MMA ladder. That’s why, speaking to ESPN, she tried to make the most of the opportunity (via Twitter):

“It was pretty cool,” Mazo said. “They really opened the doors for me. I was explaining a little bit more about how was going to be this fight for me, how important it is to keep building my record and to show that women are growing in every aspect.

“On jobs, on sports, it’s a good thing to represent right now. And, more than that, I’m a Latin-American girl, so it opens the door for a lot of people and opportunities.”

To hear Mazo’s full chat with Kruck, check out the video above.

And for more on LFA 9, visit the MMA Rumors section of the site.

LFA 9 is live on AXS TV tonight at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT). Make sure to tweet along using #LFA9. AXS TV airs new, live fights almost every Friday night in 2017. Find AXS TV on your TV right here: www.axs.tv/fights.