For her next fight, Molly McCann will cross the pond and land in The Big Apple.
McCann has been booked against surging prospect Erin Blanchfield in a women’s flyweight bout set for UFC 281 on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Blanchfield announced the booking Thursday on her Instagram account. The UFC has not yet made a formal announcement of the matchup, but MMA Junkie confirmed with an additional person who asked to remain anonymous.
McCann (13-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC), 32, is on a hot streak of three consecutive wins, which includes back-to-back spinning elbow finishes of Luana Carolina and most recently Hannah Goldy last month at UFC Fight Night 208. The British fighter’s popularity has soared in 2022, with both of her knockouts coming in front of raucous crowds at The O2 in London. The trip to New York will mark her fifth appearance in the U.S. where she’s 3-1, with her lone defeat a unanimous decision to Lara Procópio at UFC Fight Night 184 in Las Vegas.
McCann mentioned wanting to fight Antonina Schevchenko after UFC London, but she’ll instead get Blanchfield (9-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who hasn’t tasted defeat since a February 2019 split-decision loss to Tracy Cortez in Invicta FC. Since then, Blanchfield, 23, has won six fights in a row, including her first three UFC appearances. She most recently submitted JJ Aldrich with a guillotine choke in June at UFC Fight Night 207.
With the addition, the updated UFC 281 lineup includes:
- Champ Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira – for middleweight title
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Molly McCann
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
