Highly-touted judoka Marina Shafir picked up her third first-round submission victory on Saturday night at Tuff-N-Uff: “Mayhem In Mesquite 2” in Mesquite, Nevada. Shafir submitted Danielle “The Executioner” Mack with an armbar just 59 seconds into round one of their 150-pound co-main event matchup.
Shafir, the best friend and training partner of UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, is quickly making a name for herself in the amateur ranks. She has looked impressive in all three of her victories to date and made a successful Tuff-N-Uff debut with the win over Mack.
Shafir (3-0-0) landed punches right away and closed the distance, then clinched against the cage. She tripped Mack (0-3-0) to the mat and passed to side control. Shafir briefly looked to be setting up an arm-triangle choke, which she used to pave the way for a move to mount. From there, Shafir latched onto an arm in search of an armbar. She pulled back on Mack’s arm and went belly-down, leaving Mack with nowhere to go and forcing her to quickly tap out.
With her sights set on a future showdown with former Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, Shafir has gradually moved down in weight in preparation for her debut in the featherweight division. She is expected to turn pro before the end of this year and has expressed interest in signing with the all-female Invicta Fighting Championships promotion. Like her teammate Rousey, Shafir has finished all of her MMA bouts to date by first-round armbar.
Winner: Marina Shafir by Submission (Armbar) at 0:59 of round one. She improves to 3-0-0.
(Photo Credit: Full Circle Photo)
Wonder if she will say she is not prepared as well to fight Cyborg when the fight is there.
Dude she isnt pro yet. Shes Had 3 fights. She will kick your ass
well, she said that she needs some time before the fight with Cyborg. Not now. She is realistic about her status as a newbie and we won’t see this fight for a while. Afterall she still needs to make the weight and work on her striking. However, it is obvious that she is already comfortable with her standup game. Probably better than her teammate Ronda Rousey. Maybe it would be good for them to work together, Ronda can get something from her friend as well.