Tag: Darina Mazdyuk

Bellator 269 results: Katarzyna Sadura stymies Darina Mazdyuk hype with second-round TKO win

Not the first impression Darina Mazdyuk was hoping for after she went viral in 2020 for beating a 529-pound man.

[autotag]Darina Mazdyuk[/autotag] entered Bellator 269 with plenty of attention thanks to a viral video. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t make the first impression she hoped to.

[autotag]Katarzyna Sadura[/autotag] spoiled Mazdyuk’s promotional debut by earning a second-round TKO victory in their flyweight bout in what was also Sadura’s Bellator debut Saturday at VTB Arena in Moscow.

Mazdyuk came into the bout with hype around her name after winning an intergender fight against a 529-pound man in 2020. Bellator 269 represented the first bout on a multifight contract.

Mazdyuk (3-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) came out aggressive in Round 1, mixing leg and body kicks and punches, but she was throwing winging punches with her chin up, which opened her up to Sadura’s counters. Sadura (5-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) continued to tag Mazdyuk as she got the better of most of their striking exchanges. The damage was evident on the left side of Mazdyuk’s face, too. As the round wore on, Sadura found success with front leg kicks, too, which compromised Mazdyuk’s movement. It was clear from the first five minutes that Sadura was the more technically sound fighter.

Sadura’s length advantage and disciplined striking continued to shine against Mazdyuk’s winging punches in Round 2, which continued at a slower pace but with high volume. The accumulation of strikes absorbed by Mazdyuk finally was enough midway through the second round. Sadura landed a big overhand right that stunned Mazdyuk, who walked right into a short left that dropped her to the mat. From there, Sadura rained down with strikes to finish Mazdyuk at the 3:17 mark.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 269 results include:

  • Katarzyna Sadura def. Darina Mazdyuk via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:17
  • Irina Alekseeva def. Stephanie Page via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Nikita Mikhailov def. Brian Moore via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Alexey Shurkevich def. Grachik Bozinyan via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:25
  • Aiden Lee def. Alexander Osetrov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:41

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Darina Mazdyuk: Intergender fight vs. 529-pound man was part of bigger plan that worked

The winner in one of the most viral videos of 2020 makes her Bellator debut Saturday.

Landing a major promotional deal after fighting a different gendered person who weighed over four times more than her? It was all part of a bigger plan, according to Bellator flyweight [autotag]Darina Mazdyuk[/autotag].

When video surfaced online of 135-pound Mazdyuk (3-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) scrapping with a 529-pound man – and beating him – the bout immediately entered MMA infamy. As viral as viral gets, fans from around the world watched in awe, disgust, or even laughter.

“It was actually me who initiated it,” Mazdyuk told MMA Junkie through an interpreter at a virtual Bellator 269 news conference Tuesday. “I got the idea of fighting someone huge and with that, there’s a promotional value not just for Russia, but for the U.S. and other countries. It turns out, this way I was able to draw attention to (myself). This way, I scored a Bellator contract.”

Score a Bellator contract, she did. After a wave of attention, Mazdyuk was quickly offered a multifight deal from one of the world’s top MMA organizations. While she doubts a duplicated effort will have an equal effect, Mazdyuk thinks there’s a spot in combat sports for outside-the-box, attention-grabbing contests.

“That actually was kind of the goal, to reach a lot of people and actually show the crowd that such fights can take place and how exciting they would be,” Mazdyuk said. “Such sports are particularly exciting and something to look at aside from your normal, classical, traditional point of view on fighting. That was the goal for me.”

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Though the experience was unique and perhaps one she won’t participate in again, Mazdyuk walked away a better, more technical fighter. Although she’ll fight a more “traditional” opponent Saturday in fellow women’s flyweight Katarzyna Sadura at Bellator 269, Mazdyuk expects fans to walk away with a similar sense of awe.

“I believe that, after that fight, having new equipment, having new technique, and having just a new system of training, I believe that with all those skills I’ve acquired, I can put up even more of a ‘sticking out’ kind of a fight compared to the previous one,” Mazdyuk said. “Even the girl who weighs 50 kilograms can make a show.”

Bellator 269 takes place Saturday at VTB Arena in Moscow. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

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