Sara McMann To Face Lauren Murphy At UFC Fight Night 47Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann looks to bounce back from the first loss of her mixed martial arts career when she returns to the cage at UFC Fight Night 47: “Bader vs St. Preux” on August 16th in Bangor, Maine. The standout wrestler faces Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Lauren Murphy.

UFC officials announced the featured matchup earlier today. McMann fought her way to a UFC title shot against fellow Olympic medallist “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey in February, but succumbed to a knee to the body early in round one. Murphy is unbeaten and she captured the Invicta FC title in December.

McMann (7-1-0) turned pro three years ago after struggling to find any willing opponents in the amateur ranks. She racked up four straight wins in 2011 that included key victories over Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger and Raquel “Rocky” Pa’aluhi. A subsequent win over Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano earned McMann a spot on the Invicta FC roster and she won her lone fight for the promotion by outpointing Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler. McMann’s UFC debut ended in a one-sided TKO triumph over Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff, but she was quickly stopped by Rousey at UFC 170.

Murphy (8-0-0) has made big improvements to her MMA game in recent years en route to becoming one of the sport’s top female bantamweights. After opening her career with two featherweight title wins in her home state of Alaska, Murphy dropped down to 135 pounds this past year and won all four of her fights. The stretch included notable victories over Kaitlin Young and Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio, as well as a title-winning effort against “The Queen of Mean” Miriam Nakamoto at Invicta FC 7. Murphy now moves on to the UFC and she could crack the bantamweight top five if she can get past McMann.

UFC Fight Night 47: “Bader vs St. Preux” takes place on August 16th at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Ryan “Darth” Bader and Ovince St. Preux.

 

 

(Photo Credit: UFC)

  1. Great fight! I think McMann will win this one handily, though.

  2. Lauren Murphy thankfully escapes Invicta feeding her to Cyborg,