Mallory Martin pulls off epic comeback at UFC Vegas 8

Mallory Martin pulled the biggest comeback of the night after defeating Hannah Cifers with a second-round-submission Saturday at UFC on ESPN+33 in Las Vegas.

Martin survived a storm in the first round to come back in the second.

Result: Mallory Martin def. Hannah Cifers via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:33
Updated records: Martin (7-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC), Cifers (10-7 MMA, 2-5 UFC)
Key stat: Cifers dropped Martin in the first round and won the striking battle 57-31. But Martin got the fight to the ground in the second and pulled off the comeback.

Martin gave her thoughts on the fight’s key moment.

“That was a tough first round. She definitely won it. Not a lot of people would come out in the second round like how I came out. They would maybe be more timid or scared of getting hit with another overhand.

They’d probably fight more shy after that. I’ve already experienced this before. I’ve been in there before and can just go and play my game.”

Martin bounced back in the second.

“My (UFC) debut fight (against Virna Jandiroba) – I wouldn’t have normally fought that girl until I was top five. This one, I had no pressure going into it. I felt fine, but I did feel a little pressure to get that win.

In the first round, when all that happened, I was just thinking in my head like, ‘This ain’t happening to me. This is not how I’m going down.’ The second round came and I just had to do what I do best and stick to the game plan I should have done in the first round.”

Martin on what she wants next.

“This year’s been really hard for me mentally. It’s not a picture-perfect win, but nothing I’ve gone through is picture perfect. I’ve always had adversity to overcome, so it’s nothing new to me.”