Stand and Deliver: UFC London

Every fight matters, but some matter just a little more.

A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, but some feel bigger than others for various reasons. In some cases, the elevated stakes are easy to define—the fighter on a losing streak who knows he or she is likely fighting for their job, or conversely, any title fight in a top regional organization, where the combatants know the big leagues are scouting them. At other times, a fight feels especially important for reasons that are harder to quantify but no less real. Whether it’s the unspoken weight of being a pioneer in MMA from one’s native country or the simple added spice of two fighters who genuinely hate each other’s guts, that fight just means more.

On Saturday, UFC Fight Night 255 takes place in the very UFC-friendly confines of London’s O2 Arena. Crowds at that building over the last few years have been famously raucous in the best possible way, leading to plenty of memorable highlights for the promotion and some of its stars. Amid the 26 men and women scheduled to make the walk this weekend and looking to add their own chapter to UFC London lore, here are a couple who should be feeling just a little extra pressure to stand and deliver:

They Tried, Molly McCann. They Really Did.

Of the above-mentioned stars and highlights, none stands out quite like “Meatball Molly.” In 2022, the Liverpudlian’s rise was one of the biggest stories in all of MMA, thanks entirely to work put in at O2 Arena. With a pair of sensational spinning knockouts of Luana Carolina and Hannah Goldy, helped by some deliriously joyful celebrations alongside her teammate and friend Paddy Pimblett, the veteran flyweight became a star and effectively guaranteed herself prime card placement for life.

In the wake of the Goldy KO that July, my Sherdog Radio cohort Keith Shillan suggested on our recap show that the UFC would be best served by booking McCann exclusively in her native UK, preferably in winnable fights. As a tough but limited fighter who had captured lightning in a bottle but seemed unlikely to make a serious title run, Keith reasoned that anchoring main cards in front of adoring British arenas would be the ideal use of her newfound star power and remaining competitive prime from the promotion’s standpoint, while the resulting adulation (and likely bonus checks) would be wins for McCann.

Instead, the UFC treated “Meatball” like any other contender, matching her up with young grappling star Erin Blanchfield—in Blanchfield’s backyard of NYC, no less—in November. Blanchfield proved to be as miserable a style matchup for McCann as she appeared to be on paper, and the resulting first-round submission touched off a 1-3 run for McCann leading into this week’s assignment, another rough matchup with another young up-and-comer in Dana White's Contender Series strawweight product Alexia Thainara.

The bitter irony is that the UFC really did try to use McCann properly this time. McCann had originally been scheduled to take on Istela Nunes, whose 0-4 Octagon record left her suitable for little other than perhaps being a foil for McCann in front of a partisan crowd. Certainly, short of signing someone for the express purpose of losing to McCann, the promotion would have been hard-pressed to find another fighter over whom she would have been a similarly steep favorite.

However, we know what they say about the best-laid plans, and when Nunes was forced off Saturday’s card with an injury, the UFC turned to Thainara. The young Brazilian is no Blanchfield in terms of credentials and hype, but she is another grappling specialist who is much younger, and figures to be quicker and more athletic, than McCann. It is telling that despite the relatively muted buzz around Thainara, she is a 2-to-1 favorite as of the middle of fight week. However, the greater risk for McCann carries with it a greater opportunity as well: While Nunes was a likely setup for a deafening crowd, a UFC bonus check and a piggyback ride around the Octagon with “Paddy The Baddy,” Thainara represents a chance to show that McCann might have some competitive upside at 115 pounds.

Jai Herbert: Best of the Worst?

On my preview show for UFC London this week, I raised the question of whether “The Black Country Banger” is the most talented fighter under .500 in the UFC. Herbert is a rangy, athletic, well-conditioned, well-rounded lightweight…who is somehow 3-4-1 in the Octagon. Part of it is down to brutal matchmaking—in hindsight, Herbert’s four losses to Ilia Topuria, Renato “Moicano,” Fares Ziam and the 2020 version of Francisco Trinaldo, and his draw with Ludovit Klein, range from “no shame there” to “murderer’s row.” However, Herbert is the author of some of his own misery as well. His inconsistent output has left some of his wins closer than they should have been, while his occasional defensive lapses have ensured that in three of those four losses, he did not hear the final horn, including against the aging Trinaldo, who was the farthest thing from a finisher the division had to offer at the time.

At a certain point, a fighter is what his record says he is, and the distinction between “good” and “bad” losses becomes meaningless. That time may be now for Herbert. Heading into his assignment against Chris Padilla on Saturday, the 36-year-old Midlands native figures to be bigger, more experienced and probably more skilled everywhere. However, the aggressive, hard-hitting Californian is a somewhat surprising 2-0 in the UFC and riding a wave of confidence: exactly the kind of fighter it’s easy to picture catching Herbert in a moment of inattention and silencing the O2 with a shocking upset.

Herbert’s job is to avoid that pitfall, preferably in favor of outclassing Padilla in a barnburner of a fight that leaves him in the running for a post-fight bonus (or two). Herbert’s job may be safe no matter Saturday’s outcome, but any remaining window to become something more than the best of the worst, or just another guy at lightweight, is closing fast.