5 Things You Might Not Know About Marina Mokhnatkina

Forgive Marina Mokhnatkina if she feels a bit like Jack climbing up the beanstalk.

The Bellator MMA alum will have her work cut out for her when she faces two-time defending Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison in the PFL 3 main event on Friday at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Mokhnatkina heads into her first assignment of 2022 on the heels of back-to-back victories. She last competed at PFL 8, where she made a successful promotional debut with a three-round unanimous decision over Claudia Zamora on Aug. 19.

In advance of Mokhnatkina’s showdown with the unbeaten Harrison, here are five things you might not know about her:

1. Her accolades speak for themselves.

Mokhnatkina is a six-time gold medalist at the World Sambo Championships. In fact, she has enjoyed two threepeats at the prestigious global competition, winning in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before doing so again in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

2. Her transition to mixed martial arts was seamless.

The decorated sambo practitioner made her mixed martial arts debut at the age of 28, as she submitted Ekaterina Torbeeva with an armbar just 25 seconds into their Fight Nights Global 50 pairing on June 17, 2016. Mokhnatkina won each of her first four bouts by submission, two of them in less than a minute.

3. Gold has already eluded her grasp.

Mokhnatkina failed in her bid to capture the Fight Nights Global women’s bantamweight championship when she wound up on the wrong side of a majority decision against Liana Jojua at FNG 83 on Feb. 22, 2018. She signed with Bellator soon after, while Jojua agreed to terms with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

4. She chooses her destinations wisely.

The 33-year-old Russian now operates out of the powerhouse Sanford MMA camp in Deerfield Beach, Florida. There, Mokhnatkina has set out to refine her skills under esteemed coaches like Henri Hooft and Greg Jones while working alongside a number of world-class stablemates, from Robbie Lawler and Michael Chandler to Rory MacDonald, Vicente Luque and Gilbert Burns.

5. She does not have to look far for advice.

Mokhnatkina’s husband has also competed in the Professional Fighters League, giving her a unique perspective on the format. Mikhail Mokhnatkin appeared with the promotion during its second season, losing a unanimous decision to Rashid Yusupov at PFL 3 on June 6, 2019 before being knocked out by Maxim Grishin at PFL 6 on Aug. 8, 2019.