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Home favourite Erin Blanchfield, in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, has backed herself to “finish” Manon Fiorot in the “third or fourth round” of their headline clash at UFC Fight Night on Saturday night.
Like her opponent, Blanchfield has won all six of her fights in the UFC, landing her a career-first main event as she edges closer to a women’s flyweight title shot.
While a championship opportunity is potentially at stake, Blanchfield insists her focus is on Saturday, with the 24-year-old entering the showdown – to some observers – as the slight favourite.
Indeed, even if she emerges victorious, a shot at the title may not happen until early next year, with the trilogy clash between champion Alexa Grasso and challenger Valentina Shevchenko unlikely to happen until September.
But Blanchfield is prepared to be patient and bide her time in the pursuit of glory.
“I feel like right now I’m really focused on Saturday because winning on Saturday is the most important,” she continued.
“I know the division is kind of getting held up in a weird way. I mean, I’m happy that I get the chance to prove myself as the next No. 1 contender. If I had to fight again, I’m not opposed to that – I like fighting and making money, so I don’t mind.
“But I definitely want to get this win on Saturday and we’ll see what happens from there.
“I feel like in MMA, things change so often so you never know what’s going to happen.”
The much-anticipated fight has been elevated to a five-round main event and Blanchfield admits she is “super excited” to feature in such a prestigious occasion.
“I feel like it should have been a five-rounder from the beginning. I’m super excited that we were able [to get] that main-event spot and to get five rounds,” Blanchfield said.
“I really want to get that five-round experience, have a training camp for that, kind of get used to that. And I feel like my cardio is great, I feel like it really lends to me and my gameplan, so I’m happy about that.”
With the Boardwalk Hall venue expected to be sold out, Blanchfield will have home advantage and she is determined to put on a show in front of her supporters.
“All of my family and friends [will be there], people from the gym, everybody’s going to be there. So I definitely expect a big turnout,” she said.
“I’m stoic and focused when I’m walking out and fighting, but I do love that energy after a win, being able to see the crowd and being able to see my family and friends. So there definitely is a whole other aspect to fighting in front of a crowd.
“It really makes you feel like you’re a professional athlete, you want to perform in front of everybody. So I definitely prefer that.”
While both fighters are protecting undefeated records in the UFC, Blanchfield has one loss on her CV, which came five years ago against Tracy Cortez via split decision.
Rather than be deterred by the loss, Blanchfield insists it made her stronger and rather than look backwards, ‘Cold Blooded’ only has eyes on the future.
“It doesn’t bother me at all,” she said. “I was super young, I was like 19 when I took that loss and honestly I feel like it helped me grow. I feel like that loss made me refocus and really dial in on my training and my technique.
“So I feel like if anything, I really grew from that loss and I feel like it’s shown in my career since then because I think I’m on like a nine-fight winning streak overall, so yeah, I’m not sour about it.
“It was a super-close fight and I lost the split so I feel like I was able to learn so much from it because there was a lot that happened in the fight. So yeah, I’m happy the way it went.”
Also featuring on Saturday’s card will be Vicente Luque’s welterweight clash with Joaquin Buckley, and Chris Weidman v Bruno Silva in a middleweight bout.
