Molly McCann vs. Julija Stoliarenko: UFC Fight Night 224 Odds, Prediction

Payton Matthews
July 19, 2023

The penultimate bout of the UFC Fight Night London main card Saturday is from the women’s flyweight division as Molly McCann faces Julija Stoliarenko with no title at stake. McCann is a -230 favourite on the MMA odds with Stoliarenko +170.

Molly McCann -230
Julija Stoliarenko +175

Molly McCann UFC London Odds

Alexa Grasso is the current UFC women’s flyweight champion, and the 33-year-old McCann, from England, is unranked at 13-5 in a pro career dating to 2015. She is a former Cage Warriors flyweight champion. While she was born in Liverpool and even played soccer for that franchise before an injury ended her football career, McCann is an Everton fan.

“Meatball” had a three-fight winning streak snapped last time in the Octagon in November in New York City, falling to title contender Erin Blanchfield by first-round submission (Kimura).

“Imagine the worst ever thing to happen to you in your career – that times 10 is how I felt,” McCann said of taking a layoff following that loss (the promotion had a slot for her at UFC 286 in March but she passed). “It took me to a dark place. It wasn’t fun. It took a long time to be happy again and not just be riddled with failure. I just had to work through it. I didn’t go back to the gym till I felt I was ready.”

McCann’s previous two fights were both in London and she not only won both but earned a Performance of the Night bonus in each.

The 5-foot-4 McCann has a reach of 62 inches and her fights average 11:39. She lands 5.72 significant strikes per minute with 50 per cent accuracy and absorbs 4.90 with 63 per cent defence. Her takedown average is 1.67 per 15 minutes with 35 per cent accuracy, and her takedown defence is 44 per cent. She has seven wins by decision and six by KO/TKO. Three losses are from the judges and two via submission.

For Saturday, McCann’s favoured method of victory is by KO/TKO/DQ at +150, followed by decision at +190 and submission at +1600. A draw is +6600.

Julija Stoliarenko UFC London Odds

The 30-year-old Stoliarenko, from Lithuania, is also unranked in the women’s flyweight division with a mediocre record of 10-7 overall with two draws and 1-4 mark in the UFC. Stoliarenko’s father introduced her to karate when she was 12 and she has become a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She also was a former Invicta bantamweight champion.

A cast member on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Stoliarenko comes off an October first-round TKO loss (punches) to Chelsea Chandler. Stoliarenko’s lone UFC triumph was an armbar submission of Jessica-Rose Clark at UFC 276. She has nine wins by submission overall and one by decision with three losses by decision, three by KO/TKO and one by submission.

The 5-foot-7 Stoliarenko has a reach of 66 inches and her fights average 10:43. She lands 2.75 significant strikes per minute with 41 per cent accuracy and absorbs 4.61 with 44 per cent defence. Her takedown average is 0.70 per 15 minutes with 25 per cent accuracy, and her takedown defence is 62 per cent.

For Saturday, her favoured method of victory is by submission at +325, followed by points at +600 and KO/TKO/DQ at +1600. That the fight goes the distance is +130 with no at -160.