Flyweight contender Molly McCann returns to the cage at the upcoming UFC London event on March 21 when she takes on a crafty veteran in Ashlee Evans-Smith.

UFC flyweight Molly McCann went 3-0 in 2019.

McCann (10-2-0) suffered a crushing second-round submission loss to Gillian Robertson in her 2018 UFC debut. The ‘Meatball’ used this hometown loss as motivation and went 3-0 in 2019, displaying a rapidly improving and well-rounded mixed martial arts game. McCann picked up wins over Priscila Cachoeira, Ariane Lipski and Diana Belbita last year, as well as having success in grappling competition.

During a recent chat with MMAJunkie, McCann explained that she see’s the March 21 fight as a ‘graduation’ of sorts and feels a victory will prove to her that she’s ready to begin working her way through the top-ten.

“This is the last fight that I think I have to have until I can really be confident and be like, ‘I’m going to absolutely murder everyone in the top 10,‘” she said. “It’s that grappler and striker fight again. This is like my graduation. I believe I’ve been set up (for success), I’m doing everything right. The blueprint’s there now. My grappling, my wrestling, my jiu jitsu, my ground and pound, is on par with hers. And once I’ve done this then there’s no questions. All questions are answered.”

McCann is a former Cage Warriors flyweight champ.

Ultimately, the Liverpudlian hopes to end 2020 as a contender for the UFC flyweight title, currently held by Valentina Shevchenko.

“I just want to be a contender, come the end of the year, for the belt,” she said. “I’ll fight wherever, I’ll fight whoever it needs to be, to make that happen, and I’ve got the onions to do it now.

“I shock myself a lot when I get in there, and you’ll see after the first round my opponents go back to that seat and they’re sat there and they’re like, ‘Oh my (expletive) god, I’ve got to go back out there and fight this!’ and I’m like, ‘They’re not the monster that I thought they were going to be.’ I know this is where I’m at now, and I know, once you’ve felt someone out for that first minute, I’m good to go.”

UFC on ESPN+ 29 takes place on Saturday March 21, 2020, from the O2 Arena in London, England, United Kingdom.

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