Judge’s Vote: Yanez
Fan Vote: YanezNo tiebreaker vote needed… Welcome to the PFL Desiree
Yanez!#PFLonFubo
pic.twitter.com/xXdHyOm7aq— PFL (@PFLMMA)
February 25, 2023
Eight women’s flyweight fighters competed at
PFL Challenger Series 2023 Week 5 but only one could earn a
contract to compete in the
Professional Fighters League‘s regular season.
Advertisement
The four-fight card was main evented by a 125-pound fight between
Kaytlin
Neil and Katherine
Corogenes. Neil (7-4) looked to fight against the fence but
Corogenes (3-2) was able to stay active with punches from the
clinch inside the opening frame. Neil would slow down the fight in
the second round and open up more on the feet, which led to it
being much closer. Corogenes was docked a point for an eye poke in
Round 3, which saw Neil close the round by taking the back of her
opponent.
After some deliberation, the judges saw the fight in favor of Neil,
who received three 29-27 scorecards but wasn’t able to take home a
PFL contract.
Young Decisions Lavado
The co-main event was a 128-pound catchweight bout due to Sandra
Lavado missing weight for her fight against Shanna
Young.
Young (9-5) came out with a diverse striking attack led by her
kicks at a distance that frustrated Lavado (11-4) and prevented her
from closing the distance effectively. The second round would see
Young secure a takedown on the “Peruvian Zombie” and control the
fight for several minutes. Lavado would find some success striking
late in Round 2 but was unable to keep the momentum as “The
Shanimal” once again took the fight to the ground and took her
opponent’s back in the final frame.
Young was awarded a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27,
30-27 and 29-28 in her favor.
Yanez Outduels Mazar
Desiree
Yanez had a back-and-forth scrap against Maira Mazar
and emerged the victor.
Yanez (7-4) came out aggressive and used her dirty boxing to
control the opening round against Mazar (8-6), who was unable to
get fully comfortable on the feet. The second frame would see Mazar
take the back of “Dirty Dez” in a scramble and then threaten with
solid punches, although a finish never came close to happening.
Yanez would rebound with a strong final round by securing a
takedown and finishing the fight doing damage on top.
After three rounds of action, the judges awarded the fight to Yanez
with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28. The performance also won
over the fans and the celebrity judges, who all voted for Yanez to
receive a PFL contract. She will now compete in an upcoming season
as a result.
Mauldin Puts Away Peralta
The first fight of the night saw Lisa
Mauldin take on Helen
Peralta and pick up the first TKO finish of her career.
Seconds into the fight Mauldin (5-3) immediately secured a takedown
on Peralta (6-4), who was happy to look for submissions and strike
from the bottom. This set the path the fight would follow as
Mauldin repeatedly took the fight to the ground in each round,
which was a solid way to differentiate her from the more even
striking exchanges on the feet.
The pace would wear Peralta out, who was defenseless in the third
round and was overwhelmed by a flurry of punches while being
mounted.
The fight was officially stopped at 3:51 of Round 3.