Athletes
Julija Stoliarenko Hopes Her Patience Pays Off
Lithuanian Veteran Makes Her Flyweight Debut Against Molly McCann Saturday In London
Julija Stoliarenko walking out to “Patience” by Guns ’N Roses would make a great deal of sense this weekend, as that word has been at the center of her preparations for Saturday’s co-main event showdown with Molly McCann at the O2 Arena in London.
At the start of the month, the Lithuanian fighter posted a picture of herself seated at the bottom of a daunting set of stairs she undoubtedly ran multiple times accompanied by the caption “Just enjoy the process and patience… a lot of patience.”
“It’s more about my fight career overall,” said Stoliarenko when asked about the photo and its caption. “I’m always talking to myself about patience, patience, patience; it goes with me through all my career — ‘Just wait for your moment.’”
After making five appearances at 135 pounds or higher since returning to the promotion, the veteran believes her moment might finally be on the horizon, as she makes her debut in the flyweight division this weekend opposite the popular fighter from Liverpool.
Stoliaranko is one of innumerable athletes that have experienced a tremendous amount of success outside the Octagon, but struggled inside the UFC cage.
The 30-year-old is 9-2-2 in 13 bouts outside of the UFC, including an Invicta FC title win over Lisa Verzosa that earned her a return trip to the biggest stage in the sport. But the former Ultimate Fighter contestant, who was released following her loss to Leah Letson in the bronze medal match at the Season 28 finale, has gone just 1-4 over her last five fights, most recently landing on the business end of a first-round stoppage loss to Chelsea Chandler in a catchweight fight at 140 pounds that reinforced both her desire to move down and her need for patience.
“Me and my coach were talking about flyweight for a long time,” began Stoliarenko, who garnered her lone UFC triumph two fights back with a first-round submission win over Jessica-Rose Clark. "I did bantamweight pretty easy, and most of the time, for a female, later is harder, but, for me, it became easier and easier and easier. For the last three fights, I did not cut much weight.
“I just love a fight — I love the fight business and everything related to it,” she added with a huge smile when talking about hustling into the short-notice pairing with Chandler, who has since competed at featherweight and seems poised to remain in the 145-pound weight class. “MMA is not an easy sport, you need to wait for a lot of things — for your fights, for the right moment for changes, especially when you’re fighting from somewhere where nobody has done it before.”
That’s a piece of Stoliarenko’s story that often goes overlooked or under-discussed.
While there are other Lithuanian fighters that have made it to the UFC, the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt is the only one to do so while continuing to train at home in Kaunas. Everything for Stoliarenko has been trial-and-error as, unlike the vast majority of her contemporaries, there hasn’t been someone from her city and her region that excelled at the highest level in the sport before, meaning there has been no blueprint for her to follow.
See Which Fighters Are On The Rise This Week
“From the beginning when I started to train with my coach, we had a goal (to reach) the UFC, and in those times, it was a miracle,” explained Stoliarenko. “It was a dream that if it would come true, nobody would believe it, and we just patiently looked for steps, building my career.
“I was probably the least expected fighter to get into the UFC when I was younger, especially when you’re the first girl who is doing a serious career in MMA. You need to figure out what to do, what to change. In my country, we’re doing that for the first time, and to find the right moment, you need to have patience, for sure.
Buy Tickets Now For UFC London
“Of course, we made mistakes, but those mistakes taught us lessons,” she added. “And I hope that for the next generation, it’s going to be easier and easier and easier because we already have that path; we’ve already made those steps to the UFC.”
Having continued to refine their process, the shift down to flyweight feels like the next correct step for the lifelong martial artist, who was introduced to karate as a child and has additionally competed in both kickboxing and Lethwei.
“Me as a featherweight was very bad,” Stoliarenko said with a laugh. “Bantamweight was overall pretty good to me, in the whole of my career, but I always felt that if I was to do something great, it would be at flyweight.
“I’m not saying that I’m going to be the champion; we need to see how my body is going to be, whether it’s a good move or a bad move, but we will see. Right now, I have very high hopes for myself in that division, so we’ll see.”
In addition to being excited to test drive a new division, Saturday’s bout in London brings the first opportunity to compete relatively close to home for the Lithuanian pioneer.
Keep Up With Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter
Each of Stoliarenko’s six UFC appearances to date have taken place in Las Vegas, which is a long flight away from Kaunas and does not have a particularly robust Lithuanian community. But London does, and it’s less than three hours away by plane, which means Stoliarenko should have a reasonably-sized cheering section in the audience this weekend, even if she is competing on McCann’s home turf.
“For all the areas where the UFC is doing fights, London is for sure the closest to home,” said Stoliaranko, who looks to hand McCann a second straight defeat. “Roger (Gracie) is here, the Lithuanian community is huge here. I already know a lot of people that are coming to watch me here; I’m very excited.
“It’s not pressure — I like fighting like that,” she added quickly. “This event is a mix of some things I like the most: I like to be the underdog and I like to be in my opponent’s area; I like when everyone is against me. But I also love having my people around, and I’m going to have all of those feelings because in London, Molly is huge.
“I know that I’m fighting in London because Molly is huge here, but, at the same time — c’mon, that’s my home!”
McCann is indeed a big star in her homeland, and she’s registered consecutive stoppage wins competing at the O2 Arena, following up her third-round knockout win over Luana Carolina last March with a first-round finish of Hannah Goldy in July. Now, after falling to Erin Blanchfield at UFC 281 in November, “Meatball” is back on home soil, back before a raucous, partisan crowd, and looking to get herself back into the win column.
RELATED: Molly McCann's Best London Moments
But Stoliarenko is ready.
“Molly is a huge challenge for me — she’s a big fighter, she’s very tough, very aggressive. She puts a lot of pressure on her opponents, has very dangerous boxing, and a lot of spinning stuff, for sure, so we’ll see.
“I have my advantages, she has her advantages, and we’ll see who will do their own stuff,” she added. “I’m ready to be everywhere with her.”
More than anything, the occasionally impatient fighter is simply ready to finally make the walk again, and to test herself in her new weight class.
“I’m very excited for this fight and I’ve been preparing for this fight for a very long time,” she said, the excitement radiating off of her. “I’m just excited to finally go to the cage! My last fight was 10 months (ago).
“I’m very excited to see myself in a lower division, and I want to see what I’m able to do here.”
And should everything go her way on Saturday, Stoliarenko was very clear about what it would mean for her.
“When it happens, that’s going to be the biggest moment of my career, for sure.”
UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs Tybura took place live from the O2 Arena in London, England on July 22, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
Tags
