A series of official fight announcement’s for the UFC’s upcoming return to London, England have confirmed the Octagon return of Liverpool’s Molly McCann. “Meatball” is set to face Brazil’s Istela Nunes on March 22 at the O2 Arena in one of two strawweight bouts that are currently scheduled for the card.
McCann fought twice in 2024 where she kicked off her year by recording the first submission win of her pro career against Diana Belbiţă in February. After breaking her two-fight skid, the 34-year old lost a unanimous decision to The Fighting Nerds’ Bruna Brasil at UFC 304 in July.
This took her overall UFC record to 7-6 after being beaten by the better woman on the night. Her next opponent, Nunes, is in desperate need of a win if she’s going to keep her place on the strawweight roster.
The former ONE Championship contender arrived in the UFC three years ago and in four outings, she is yet to get her hand raised inside the Octagon. Defeats to Ariane Carnelossi, Sam Hughes, Yazmin Jauregui and Victoria Dudakova have her coming into London with her back up against the wall.
Her loss to Dudakova in July of 2023 ended in just over 30 seconds due to a dislocated elbow and Nunes hasn’t fought since. Several other fights were also confirmed for the card in this latest spree of announcements.
Christian Leroy Duncan vs Andrey Pulyaev – middleweight
Oumar Sy vs Alonzo Menifield – light heavyweight
Shauna Bannon vs Puja Tomar – strawweight
