Liverpool’s own Molly McCann returns to the UFC octagon this Friday, when she faces promotional debutant Diana Belbita.
The Liverpool fighter is looking to build on from her two consecutive wins in 2019 and cement herself as a ranked flyweight in the sport’s biggest promotion.
Despite her UFC debut in Liverpool not going as expected, she has bounced back in her two previous fights with wins over Priscila Cachoeira and Ariane Lipski proving she is worthy of her place near the top of her respective division.
She also became the first English female to win in the UFC’s octagon in March. A historic accolade in itself.
The win against Ariane Lipski was especially special as the Brazilian is a former world champion herself in another promotion and came into the UFC with a lot of hype.
McCann earned respect for that victory, with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes tweeting her support afterwards.
‘Meatball’ trains at Next Generation MMA in the city with the likes of former Cage Warriors champion Paddy Pimblett and UFC fighter Chris Fishgold.
Pimblett himself has a fight scheduled for November 22nd, therefore both have likely been preparing together in what will be extremely significant fights in the trajectory of their careers.
Her opponent on the weekend, Diana Belbita (11-4), is relatively unknown in the sport so her lack of experience could be her downfall or her advantage with McCann having little idea what to expect.
The Romanian has had a mixed career so far as she has secured multiple wins in European promotions, but with a lack of consistency.
None of that matters though now she is in the UFC.
A win over McCann will propel her to where she wants to be.
Ultimately, the consequences of this fight for the former Cage Warriors flyweight champion are massive. Especially considering she is expected to win.
She could finally earn a ranked spot on her quest to become the first ever female champion from the UK or take a significant blow, which could take her a while to recover from.
Either option could occur in Boston.
That is what makes the fight on Friday vital for Molly McCann.
Pic by nywalton under Creative Commons License
