Even though Erin Blanchfield lives just 30 minutes from Madison Square Garden, her 2022 debut at the dream venue will make the Elmwood Park, N.J., native more popular than anyone else. She ended up being treated like an outsider to British women.
Now, a UFC women’s flyweight contestant will earn her first local headline assignment Saturday two hours down the Garden State Parkway in Atlantic City, but this time there won’t be any Brits.
And although this time she will face France’s Manon Fioreau rather than popular Liverpool slugger Molly McCann, Blanchfield is hoping the crowd will cheer her on.
“I’m so excited to have the audience on my side this time,” Blanchfield, 24, told the Post in a video call this week. “It’s like I have what I thought I had [at the Garden] But in New Jersey. ”
Victorious that night in Manhattan, an unflappable Blanchfield put McCann through the wringer on the canvas before ending the night early with a brutal Kimura submission in the second round, resulting in a still vocal I was able to soak in the praise of the locals shouting. They were no longer drowned out by the burgeoning British population.
But Blanchfield is right to expect Boardwalk Hall to offer a much friendlier atmosphere. Considering how much her profile has increased since her victory over McCann in that statement, and the fact that this hall stands firmly on Garden State soil.
Last year, the grappling ace had two wins over women Jessica Andrade and Tyra Santos, who have been competing for the 125-pound title for the past three years.
Neither was the first KO win of her UFC career, but she improved on both when she tapped out Andrade with a rear-naked choke in her first UFC main event last February and when she outpointed Santos in August. The key was to demonstrate his batting power.
A matchup with Fiorotto, who is known for his kickboxing arsenal, might lend itself to a lazy striker vs. grappler assessment of their matchup, but Blanchfield considers himself a well-rounded fighter for now. ing.
“Every game starts standing up, so you have to be proficient at hitting,” Blanchfield said. “She’s not going to sleep for me, so I have to close that distance and be able to find the takedown. But I feel like I can win this fight wherever it goes.” Masu.
This is a five-round main event, between the two highest-ranked women behind champion Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko, and with obvious implications for the title mix, Blanchfield could be given an extra 10 minutes to gain an advantage against Fiorot. .
Blanchfield likes this situation for her and believes she will only get better as the fight continues, supporting her claims with some evidence.
“I’ve never lost in three rounds in my career, and I know that my cardio is built for a five-round fight,” Blanchfield insists. “That’s another reason I’m really excited to have qualified for the main event, because normally that’s the only time you get to get that five rounds. I’m really excited about that. I feel like that’s also become my weapon.”
She’s not trying to get ahead of herself — Blanchfield exudes a natural confidence that she’ll win this match, but the elephant in the room is that this match is the best of all non-official No. 1 contender matches. It shows the status that it is up.
The problem: Grasso and Shevchenko, who fought twice last year with Grasso winning the first time and securing a controversial draw in the rematch, have been coaching each other and will face off on next season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” I don’t think that will happen. Late summer at the earliest.
Blanchfield feels the fight against Fiorotto is “kind of like the third No. 1 contender fight in a row” and hopes the next matchup has a gold medal on the line, but she doesn’t want to be too much of a bystander. isn’t it. If she can help it, as a year.
“My career is still young. This is my seventh UFC fight,” said Blanchfield, who coincidentally made his professional MMA debut six years ago this week at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. talk. “I’m fighting tough girls. I feel like I’m growing every time I fight. And I feel like once I get a chance to win the title, I can really be the champion in the fights I’ve had. So I’m glad I was able to gain experience.
“Of course I want a title fight soon,” she continued with a laugh and a hint of exasperation. And I don’t hate fighting because I love it. ”
