Hannah Goldy, after securing her first UFC victory since earning a shot in the promotion on the Contender Series, has been offered the biggest challenge of her career.
Her task will be to halt the momentum of Molly McCann, currently on a two-fight win streak and as she has quickly become the face of women’s MMA in England. UFC London will play host to many hometown heroes, but for many, Molly McCann, along with her close training partner Paddy Pimblett are the team of Brits that fans are most excited to see.
Goldy began her martial arts journey from a young age, competing in both boxing and Muay Thai before transitioning to MMA. Although her start was in striking, her first-round armbar of Emily Whitmire last September proves she’s a threat everywhere. Every single one of her tools will be needed, however, as Molly McCann outweighs her in experience with just as many fights in the UFC as Goldy has in her entire MMA career.
Betting Odds
The more experienced McCann, fighting in her home country of England, will walk into the cage at -460, according to Sportsbook.
Breakdown
While Goldy is primarily a striker, she is not necessarily the better one in this matchup. McCann typically prefers a boxing approach, which is likely going to be even more pronounced as one of Goldy’s greatest weapons is her high kicks, in particular her left high kick is a dangerous product, especially for Molly McCann who has been known to dip her head as she enters.
However, she does not do this for no reason. McCann’s striking is characterized by a wicked pace and matching volume as she looks to swarm her opponent using slick head movement to get inside. She doesn’t often enjoy a reach advantage, and so she has become accustomed to an approach that involves, slipping and weaving low, attacking with jabs and low hooks in order to set up big overhand rights as she essentially changes levels. Once she has hurt her opponent, she will then start to open up with big wider hooks upstairs as well.
However, it is the volume that is the largest difference from Goldy, who is more of a one-punch striker. Goldy is a physical specimen, she has obvious power from everywhere and is explosive, but also a bit more rigid than McCann. Her head movement is less slick, and she tends to throw in ones or two shots at a time rather than the long flurries we see from McCann. Although, her ability to chain kicks in helps her mix things up from one step further away than McCann’s typical attacks come from.
Molly McCann has solid wrestling and a very exciting style of wrestling. She looks to change levels and drag her opponent over her base so that she can elevate them and finish her takedowns with high impact, often slamming them. She is particularly good at cutting the angle and tearing away their base. However, where she can be criticized is on the mat, she’s obviously powerful, and her defense is solid but her offensive grappling doesn’t necessarily match the level of her other skills. She is great at taking her opponents down and establishing top position, but has struggled with advancing in order to land ground and pound or towards submissions, and so unless Goldy is already hurt, don’t expect McCann to force a grappling-heavy game. Her takedowns tend to be in order to mix things up or put a stamp on a round.
Goldy only has one submission to her name, but what we saw against Whitmire when she secured it was a quickness in catching the arm from the bottom, and impressive power in order to finish it. The position, hanging from the bottom while Goldy had the other arm inside to defend shouldn’t be very easy to finish in, but Goldy did it with relative ease due to her power.
Prediction
Molly McCann should be able to stuff Goldy’s range if she comes in with the same kind of pressure she has become famous for in the past. She has to be careful when dipping low as this is a read many of her opposing corners have picked up on and been unable to capitalize on, but the opening may still be there.
However, because Goldy struggles with combinations, if Molly can slip through the first two to counter combinations she is in good form, and while Goldy may have good submission skills, McCann is likely the one to dictate when the fight hits the mat and how long they stay there.
Prediction: Molly McCann to win (-460 odds at MyBookie)