Liu cruises past Zaza with impressive performance

In a rematch of a bout that took place at GLORY 46 in Guangzhou, China’s Jia Lui (2-0, 1 KO) squared off with Thailand’s Zaza Sor Aree (33-6, 10 KO’s). 

The pair’s first meeting was ruled a no-contest after an accidental elbow strike forced the bout to be stopped in the second round.

Liu was quick to get inside on the Thai fighter, scoring with punches. Zaza landed knees from the clinch, but looked to separate and throw kicks. 

Liu largely ignored the range of the taller Zaza, wading through the oncoming strikes to close the distance and score with looping punches. Zaza attacked the body of the shorter Liu, but absorbed a lot of punches late in the round.

The sanda stylist Liu went to work with her lead-leg sidekick in round two. Zaza tried to counter with push kicks to the midsection of the Chinese fighter, but Liu repeatedly cracked her punches. 

Zaza tried to clinch and land knees, but she left her head exposed and Liu capitalized with more head strikes. The brawling style of Liu frustrated the more technical Zaza.

The forward pressure of Liu and her power punching continued to be the story of the fight in the final round. She mixed in sidekicks to prevent Zaza from finding any sort of rhythm in her offense. 

A stiff left hand from Liu wobbled Zaza with a minute remaining in the fight, but the Thai was able to stay upright. A spinning kick to the body from Liu was followed by a big flurry of punches as the fight wound down.

The fight was sent to the judges for a decision, but the victor was obvious, as Liu took every round on every scorecard.

Jia Liu def. Zaza Sor Aree by unanimous decision (30-27 on all five cards)