Alexia Thainara desires to spoil the English occasion Saturday night time and debut with the appropriate foot within the octagon by beating Molly McCann at UFC London.
“Burguesinha” completed a coaching session final Friday in Varginha, Brazil, when the cellphone rang. Her supervisor referred to as group chief Marcelo Ribas to verify if the Contender Sequence veteran was able to take a combat on brief discover.
“In fact,” Ribas responded immediately. “She’s prepared.”
A couple of minutes later, her supervisor referred to as again to tell her the combat was on. Thainara had two days to go away Varginha for Sao Paulo after which embark on a protracted flight to London, all that with seven kilos to chop in only a week.
“We had been anticipating a high-profile combat already as a result of there have been seven months because the Contender,” Thainara advised MMA Preventing. “It’s combat, a tricky combat, and that’s as a result of they noticed I used to be a tricky fighter. I’m a well-rounded athlete they usually clearly wouldn’t give me a half-ass combat. It’s a combat for us to placed on a present.”
Thainara beat former teammate Rose Conceicao on The Contender Sequence to go 11-1 as knowledgeable and earn a contract with the UFC.
In the meantime, the combat at UFC London is McCann’s 14th octagon look, having gained seven of these. “Meatball” has the sting when it comes to expertise, however Thainara sees herself a step forward in different areas of the sport.
“[I beat her] with my greatest, my coronary heart, by going ahead and being aggressive and versatile,” Thainara mentioned. “Don’t let her use her boxing, which is her greatest. That’s all she reveals in her fights, actually.”
“And we’ve got the [jiu-jitsu] background, proper? 5 submissions in a row. Faucet or sleep.”
Thainara had run on the Brazilian circuit earlier than incomes her UFC contract. In actual fact, the 5 straight submissions occurred between 2021 and 2023, a run that included a pair of eight-second finishes. She wasn’t competing towards the elite of the game at that stage — each opponents had been 0-1 as professionals —, however “Burguesinha” sees UFC London as her popping out occasion.
“I’m nonetheless unknown within the UFC,” Thainara mentioned. “However I’m positive this chance will make me identified by the complete world as a result of not each particular person takes a combat on seven days’ discover. That solely reveals that our group is prepared.”
