Erin Blanchfield Submits Meatball Molly In Round 1

Damn. That was absolutely heartbreaking to watch.

Molly fought and fought and fought SO HARD to escape that crucifix (and later the Kimura) but Erin Blanchfield is a savage who just refused to give it up. I'm glad she didn't let Blanchfield snap her arm and tapped when she did, but shit; she was beat red and looked like she was in agony the whole time. No idea how she held out for as long as she did.

I can't stress enough how much that sucked to watch, especially knowing Molly as well as we do at this point. She's one of the kindest, hardest working, most determined human beings I've ever met and her whole team/camp is full of people just like her. We all know how much went into this dream of hers, fighting at Madison Square Garden, and I just hated seeing the fight itself play out like that. Just a rough, rough matchup.

She'll be back, tho - trust me when I tell you that this was merely a bump in the road that she'll learn and get better from. I'll follow Molly into battle til the day I die. From the sounds of MSG tonight, a hell lot of other people will do the same as well.

Blanchfield will probably be fighting Valentina Shevchenko for the title in no time. Credit to her.