“To me, age doesn’t really matter,” Maverick said. “I started out young, and my entire career, it’s been like, ‘Oh, you’re so young. You’ve gotten here so fast,’ but the reality is it’s a short timeframe that we’re able to fight in our lives, and they always joke that there’s fight years, not just age years. Add on however many fights you have to your age, and that’s how you feel. That’s the joke, but, to me, I feel like I have been in the game a long time.”
According to that logic, Maverick is 37-going-on-38 with a tough test ahead in Mazo, who is also 24 years of age (36 if you’re going by the age-plus-fights formula) and coming off back-to-back losses, as well.
Maverick likes the matchup because she believes she has more ways to win than Mazo, who mostly identifies as a striker with a heavy kicking game. She hopes to really mix things up and show the improvements she feels she made in camp against Mazo, essentially showcasing the “most well-rounded” version of herself yet. In terms of how Maverick views this opportunity, there’s a clear sense of urgency – not only to stop her losing skid, but to get back to the Top 15.
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“I got there after a fight in the UFC,” she said. “I plan on coming back to that. I had a tough decision loss I dropped to Maycee Barber, which was very controversial, and this Erin Blanchfield one, I did lose, and I’m fully aware of that.
“I’m ready to bounce back from that and get back in those rankings. There are so many young girls up-and-coming, and I’m one of them that will be a future contender.”
