UFC London goes down this weekend and there are two women who are under pressure to perform and get a win at the O2 Arena. Molly McCann and Shauna Bannon are both in desperate need of a win in England’s capital, however, match-ups don’t necessarily favour them.
Meatball at UFC London
McCann returns in London for the first time since July of last year and surprisingly is featuring on the main card. She’s 1-3 in her last four, having been convincingly beaten in all of her losses, two of which came via finish. Granted, she’s been moving around the weight classes, however, the move down to strawweight arguably hasn’t been as successful as she had planned, going 1-1 at 115lbs.
At UFC London, McCann was scheduled to face Istela Nunes, a woman who was put in there to get beaten by Liverpool’s own. Nunes was 0-4 in the UFC and hasn’t won a fight since 2018. Unfortunately for McCann, Nunes had visa issues, ruling her out of UFC London. She’s been replaced with promotional newcomer, Alexia Thainara. The Brazilian is 11-1 and most recently picked up a victory on the contender series last year, gaining a UFC contract.
A loss for McCann here could spell major issues. At 34, we’ll have to ask how much she has left in the tank.
Mama B at UFC London
‘Mama B’, Shauna Bannon makes her third walk to the octagon in London and, similar to McCann, needs a win. Unlike McCann, Bannon is coming off a win, however, she has massively failed to impress in both of her UFC outings thusfar.
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She made a surprising debut at just 5-0 and was matched with Bruna Brasil. In a frustrating outing, she was convincingly beaten via decision. She then returned to take on short notice, promotional newcomer, Alice Ardelean. For context, Ardelean was coming off a win over a 0-3 opponent, so we have to question just how ready she was for UFC action. Although Bannon got the nod on the night, it was via split decision. She was taken down twice, controlled on the ground and had Ardelean had more in the tank, it could have gotten interesting. Regardless, Bannon did get the nod, scoring her first UFC victory.
Standing across from Ireland’s Bannon will be India’s Puja Tomar. The Cyclone is 1-0 in the UFC but does have experience in ONE FC. In her debut, she defeated Rayanne Amanda over 15 minutes, in a fight that saw her throw 203 total strikes.
This clash should be a closely matched bout between two women who don’t have a whole host of potential in the UFC. Neither woman will see a title shot and more than likely won’t crack the top 10 or even the top 15. Bannon is a good talker and transfers over to the Irish market, something that could benefit her massively in a promotional push, but only time will tell.
Irishman Feeling the Strain
Caolan Loughran, like the women highlighted above, needs a win at UFC London. The Don entered the UFC with a lot of hype, however, is yet to live up to his potential. He lost his first bout and was able to get the nod in his second bout before dropping his third to Jake Hadley, who took the fight on short notice. Another loss here and the hype completely goes out. He takes on Nathan Fletcher at UFC London.
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