Julija Stoliarenko forced Molly McCann to submit in the first round at the UFC event in London; McCann was coming back from her first round loss to Erin Blanchfield; Heavyweight Tom Aspinall was also returning after suffering a leg injury and finished Marcin Tybura in just 90 seconds
Sunday 23 July 2023 11:51, UK
Molly McCann suffered a second consecutive first-round defeat in the UFC on Saturday when Julija Stoliarenko forced her to submit.
Liverpool's popular McCann was coming back from her submission loss to Erin Blanchfield in November and returning to the UK to compete at a packed O2 Arena in London.
But it was Stoliarenko who started quickly, forcing McCann to back off from her kicks.
With the crowd roaring her on, McCann looked to land her signature strikes and did throw an arching right cross to the head.
But it didn't rattle the Lithuanian, who judged the distance between them with a lead left kick and a jab. Stoliarenko landed her left in an exchange and then rushed inside to suddenly take McCann down.
McCann was in real trouble and her efforts to scramble free were unsuccessful.
Stoliarenko trapped her arm, bending it against the joint and forcing McCann to tap desperately out after just 1:55 of the first round.
"I really want to say 'thank you Molly' for that fight," said Stoliarenko afterwards. "She is a warrior and England should be proud of having a warrior like that, for sure.
"Stylistically that's a very uncomfortable fight for her. I always expect to finish it and I know I can finish it in any round.
"Looking at my record, you can expect it to finish in the first round! I love the audience here, I love London so much - there are my people here."
Manchester heavyweight Tom Aspinall was also coming back on the bill, returning from suffering a bad leg injury in his previous fight, but he destroyed Marcin Tybura.
A heavy left-right combination of straight punches put Tybura over on his back. Aspinall hammered a couple more blows down to leave no doubt and end their contest in just 90 seconds.
