For flyweight Lisa Mauldin, her split-decision win over Kaytlin Neil at LFA 66 in May was an opportunity to prove not only to others, but to herself, that she is a complete fighter.
Mauldin feels like she was able to showcase a good array of her abilities and let it be known that she’s not a one-dimensional fighter.
“I wanted to come in there and show that I could be a well-rounded fighter not only with my striking but take the fight to the ground and use my wrestling,” Mauldin told MMAWeekly.com. “I wanted to show to myself that I could be a well-rounded fighter.
“It’s MMA, so you’ve got to use all the disciplines in the fight. The experience was really great.”
Following the victory over Neil, Mauldin was supposed to return in August to face Hailey Cowan, but an injury forced her out of the bout. For Mauldin, the desire to eventually face Cowan never faded, and the opportunity to have that fight was a motivator as she recovered.
“When we first supposed to fight that I had it in my mind that I wanted to fight (Cowan); it was set and done,” said Mauldin. “When I suffered an injury my mind was just set that I wanted to fight her. Nothing got in the way other than that injury. I just had to recover and get back to work.”
On November 15 in Belton, Texas, Mauldin (3-1) will finally get her opportunity to face Cowan (4-1) in the 125-pound co-main event of LFA 78.
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“A fight’s a fight,” Mauldin said. “I don’t look too much into (people saying I’m the underdog). There are times where people mention things to me and it tries to get into my mind, but I think the more you focus on that it takes away from the fight. At the end of the day it’s a fight.
“I don’t want to explain too much details (of what I’m going to do in the fight). I’ll do what I have to and execute my game plan, which people will see (during the fight).”
Following November 15, Mauldin has some idea of where she wants to take her career in 2020, but for now she wants to keep her plans under wraps until after the match with Cowan.
“I do have goals,” said Mauldin. “I have set goals for next year. I have certain things I have in mind. I don’t want to expose them at this time, but I do have goals have some goals; first would be to secure this win (on November 15).”