Amanda Mazza

Amanda Mazza competes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a brown belt representing Webb MMA, bringing a rare duality to her athletic identity. By day, she works at Primal Physical Therapy as a rehabilitation professional; on the competition mat, she operates as a high-level grappler navigating the physical demands of elite BJJ. This intersection of sports medicine and competitive athletics shapes her approach to training, recovery, and performance in ways few athletes can claim.

On September 20, 2025, Mazza competed at CFFC BJJ 15 in Philadelphia, facing Emily Hansen of Checkmat Charlotte. What unfolded was a medically extraordinary sequence — a submission attempt that ended with Mazza fracturing her own arm.

The Mechanics of a Rare Injury

After executing a duck under to secure the back, Mazza locked in a rear-naked choke. Mid-attempt, a sharp, audible snap interrupted the sequence. She briefly readjusted her grip before recognizing the fracture was not in her opponent's body — it was her own forearm. The break was a complete fracture of the radius.

Her surgeon, who has worked with UFC athletes including Joe Pyfer, identified two converging forces as the cause: Mazza's own maximum squeezing effort combined with her opponent driving into her elbow at a damaging angle. Together, those forces exceeded the structural tolerance of the bone.

Surgery and the Question of the Result

Surgery required the installation of a titanium plate running nearly the full length of her forearm, with a projected recovery window of six to eight weeks. The competitive outcome compounded the difficulty — despite holding dominant back control at the moment of injury, the match was ruled a loss. Mazza publicly questioned whether a no-contest ruling would have been the more appropriate call given the circumstances.

The CFFC BJJ 15 radius fracture was the most severe in a series of physical setbacks Mazza navigated over the preceding eighteen months. In March 2024, she broke her hand during wrestling practice, interrupting her training continuity and requiring its own recovery period. Approximately one month before the September 2025 fracture, she suffered a severe finger dislocation — leaving her body minimal time to stabilize before returning to competition.

Taken together, a broken hand, a severe finger dislocation, and a surgically repaired radius across roughly eighteen months paint a picture of both the cumulative physical toll of competitive BJJ and the resilience Mazza demonstrated in continuing to train and compete through repeated adversity.

Mazza's professional environment played a direct role in accelerating her recovery. JJ Thomas, a physical therapist and her direct supervisor at Primal Physical Therapy, began assessing the injury on-site almost immediately after the incident. The immediate access to skilled rehabilitation professionals — people she works alongside daily — gave her a structured recovery pathway that most athletes in comparable situations would not have.

Mazza credited the full staff at Primal Physical Therapy with driving her return to physical health ahead of standard timelines. She also acknowledged the parallel support of her team at Webb MMA, and emphasized the mental health dimension of the process as equally important — the psychological challenge of sustaining a competitive identity through serious, recurring injury. The convergence of professional rehabilitation resources and team support created the conditions for a recovery that moved well ahead of expectations.

In December 2025, Mazza appeared on the Jits and Giggles Podcast to give a detailed account of the CFFC BJJ 15 injury. She walked through the mechanics of the fracture, the context of the match, the surgical intervention, and her perspective on how officials handled the result. She also addressed the recovery timeline and reflected on what the support of her professional and athletic communities meant during that period.

The appearance brought wider attention to a rarely documented phenomenon in competitive BJJ — a self-inflicted bone fracture sustained in the act of applying a submission. By sharing her experience publicly, Mazza contributed a firsthand account of an injury that sits at an unusual intersection of athletic force, body mechanics, and competitive misfortune — one that adds meaningfully to the documented understanding of injury risk in high-level grappling.