Lea Bivins got up close and personal with Zeba Bano at the ONE 159 weigh ins yesterday giving her a shove. It appears she did such a good job of intimidating her opponent that the Indian decided to pull out of the fight!
As you can see from the video Bano looked significantly smaller than Bivins despite coming in 3lbs overweight. The Indian tried to slap her opponent’s hand away and got a shove for her troubles.
An ice cool Bano, who did make weight, then turns to pose for the camera and smiles broadly:
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Not ready
Bano looked a little intimidated and according to Bivins she was so scared that she decided to pull out from the fight. The American stated on Instagram that,
“Zeba Bano decided on fight day to pull out last minute and not fight me on the ONE 159 card. I could see last night she was mentally not ready for this fight as well as physically.”
Bivins holds a purple belt in BJJ and is a seasoned amateur who has trained extensively with Angela Lee and Victoria Lee. This would have been her professional debut but the 19 year old looks to have the necessary background and experience to be a success in the sport.
By contrast Bano’s ONE Championship debut lasted less than 90 seconds as she was submitted by Wondergirl Fairtex. That was a strawweight fight and she decide to drop down a division for her sophomore appearance.
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Loser vibes
That was two months ago and she clearly hasn’t been able to lose the weight. It sounds like Bivins was still more than happy to take on the overweight Indian and even taunted her on Instagram stating that,
“I could see the fear and loser vibes in your face last night.”
In truth Bano did look a bit terrified. But Bivins must be left wondering what would have happened if she had just smiled and given her opponent a quick handshake.
It seems like Bivins did a little too good a job of intimidating Bano. It remains to be seen whether the Indian will get another opportunity with ONE Championship but the American clearly has ice in her veins and could well turn out to be a real fan favourite.
