Olympic wrestling silver medalist and undefeated MMA upstart Sara McMann. Photo credit: Esther Lin

By Michael Hatamoto

Former Olympian Sara McMann made her UFC octagon debut at UFC 159 against Sheila Gaff, winning in the first round by TKO.

McMann was able to easily secure the takedown against Gaff, and it’s clear that her wrestling is by far her best skillset. She pushed her professional MMA record up to 7-0 after fighting in Invicta Fighting Championship, ProElite, Titan Fighting Championships, and a couple of other smaller MMA promotions.

Here is what McMann said following her first fight for the UFC:

“It was an enjoyable experience. The more fights I have, the better I’m going to get. Her strongest threat was on the feet so I took her down. I’m a wrestler. I can take people down whenever I want to. I put myself in the captain’s seat where I could do the most damage and I plan to keep doing that.”

McMann, a silver medal winner in Olympic wrestling, will be able to test her ground game against steadily improved competition in her next few fights.

McMann clearly isn’t ready for a fight against UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, but the division also has the likes of Liz Carmouche, Alexis Davis, Sarah Kaufman, Rosie Sexton, Julie Kedzie, and Miesha Tate – there are plenty of other opportunities to give her continued steps up in competition.

I think a potential matchup between McMann and the winner of Davis vs. Sexton could make a solid bantamweight fight.