Still reveling in her victory over Cindy Dandois at M-1 Challenge XXII, Yana Kunitskaya took a brief time out to talk about her win and the training that went in to the fight that catapulted her recognition within women’s MMA.
Earning Knock-out of the Night honors, Kunitskaya landed the shot which was more than enough to flash-KO Dandois, forcing the referee in charge to halt the bout inside the opening minute and prevent the fallen fighter from taking any unnecessary shots. Although the result couldn’t have been better, it wasn’t how Kunitskaya planned, “We trained for three solid rounds of fighting since this was expected to be a very tough fight,” said the 22-year-old Action-Force Fight Team member. “Cindy has always been vocal about training with men and I knew she is extremely strong and tough. I feel I trained more and harder for the fight and am extremely happy to have finished it so quickly.”
With both sides trying to arrange the bout for some time, Kunitskaya’s camp jumped at the opportunity to make the bout reality. Once the fight was inked, it was all about training and creating the game plan for victory. “I was in the gym twice a day. Because we knew about Cindy’s aggressive style, our coach tailored a game plan to counter and neutralize whatever she could throw at me,” said Kunitskaya. “When Cindy missed with a kick to the liver, she bent over and started to relax. I knew it was my moment to attack. It was the exact moment we trained for and it paid off.”
The win improves Kunitskaya to 4-1with all of her wins coming inside the first round and with the popularity of woman’s MMA on a meteoric rise, M-1 Global will certainly look to get this rising star back in action as soon as possible.
