Molly McCann was facing Julija Stoliarenko at UFC on ESPN+ 82 but she ended up suffering a brutal submission loss in the very first round. McCann was the favorite coming into the women’s flyweight fight, which served as the co-main event for a great event staged in the UK. Not only was did she have the benefit of the local crowd getting behind her, but McCann was also coming into the fight with a better record in the UFC. Stoliarenko is an impressive grappler but she’d been unable to really put it together at the highest level until now.
Prior to stepping into the cage, McCann had a 13-5 professional record and was 6-4 in the UFC. Although she was coming off a recent submission loss to Erin Blanchfield, she had won 3 fights in a row prior to that and was gaining lots of fans as a result of her exciting style. Stoliarenko on the other hand was coming into the fight with a 10-7-2 professional record, and she’d only managed to register a single win in her five-fight UFC career. With a 1-4 promotional record, she was undoubtedly on the verge of being cut if she suffered another loss. Julija Stoliarenko was clearly aware of that and she put it on Molly McCann right from the start of their fight, coming out strong in the very first round.
The finishing sequence was a fantastic display of grappling, as Stoliarenko ducked under a strike and shot in for a double-leg before transitioning to double-underhooks and taking McCann to the mat. McCann turned away to stand up and Stoliarenko was immediately on her back, hunting the rear-naked choke. She then transitioned to an armbar while McCann was escaping and bridged in to force the tap, causing McCann to hold her elbow in pain when the referee ended the fight after less than two minutes of action.
The footage of Molly McCann being submitted by Julija Stoliarenko in the opening round of their fight at UFC on ESPN+ 82 was uploaded to the official Twitter account of MMA Mania:
Julija Stoliarenko taps Molly McCann in the first round#UFCLondon
pic.twitter.com/4PpKQ2cQvo— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 22, 2023
