London, England — Lithuania’s Julija Stoliarenko didn’t expect such a quick night in her UFC London co-main event with Molly McCann.
On the other hand, she didn’t entirely not expect it, either.
“I never expect to finish fast, but looking at my story, how I’m fighting an so on, you can always expect that,” Stoliarenko (11-7-2) told media outlets including Cageside Press following an arm-bar submission of Liverpool’s McCann, clearly one of the big fan favorites on the night.
“We were ready to fight all three rounds, if we needed to. We had the plan everywhere, in striking, grappling, how to do a whole fight. You never know how a fight is going to finish. It happens how it happens.”
Stoliarenko, who made her flyweight debut in the fight, felt like an afterthought through most of Fight Week. If she had any attention at all, it seemed to be about her weight cut more than anything.
“That’s not the first time I’m fighting in a fight where everything’s prepared for my opponent,” she admitted.
But heading into the London card, Stoliarenko felt at home, or at least as close to home as she could get. “This arena, it’s not my enemy arena. It’s my home arena also. And I would love to fight in London more and more. Because I’m feeling here, like at home. That’s my home also. It’s Europe, it’s the closest city [to Lithuania].”
As for the flyweight move, Julija Stoliarenko sees herself staying put. “I love myself as a flyweight. I love it. I love how my body is moving at flyweight. It’s better, it’s better and better for sure for me.”
“I’m not coming back to bantamweight, and featherweight, for sure. No. Flyweight and only flyweight. That’s my home.”
What comes next, on the other hand, doesn’t concern her. Stoliarenko doesn’t care who she matches up well with at 125lbs, nor who she fights next.
“I don’t care, I never choose my opponents,” she stated. “Whatever you see, was [brought] to me, I always say yes. I never said no to any fight, and I’m not going to do it later. I will say yes for anybody.”
Watch the full UFC London post-fight press conference with Julija Stoliarenko above.
