Molly McCann was battered and bruised by body blows at UFC 304, before losing to Bruna Brasil on points.
'Meatball' may have looked calm and composed making her way to the octagon on Sunday morning, but ended up fighting for survival inside the cage - with her lesser experienced opponent besting her on the feet and on the ground over the course of three rounds. 14-6 at the time, McCann headed into the fight off the back of a first-round armbar win over Diana Belbita in February this year - finding success at Strawweight after consecutive losses to Julija Stoliarenko and Erin Blanchfield at flyweight.
Meanwhile, 9-4-1 Brasil had her hand raised on Dana White's Contender Series back in September 2022 following a head-kick KO over Marnic Mann to land a coveted UFC contract, before going two and one in the promotion. A TKO at the hands of Denise Gomes and a UD loss to Konklak Suphisara either side of a win over Shauna Bannon would see Next Generation's McCann make the walk to Sunday morning's fight as a heavy favourite, especially considering the hype surrounding the Evertonian.
And the atmosphere was electric as the 34-year-old walked calmly towards the octagon with her entourage as - a stark contrast to the stale welcome 30-year-old Brasil received. The crowd continued to back McCann as the first round got underway, with chants of "Molly, Molly, Molly, Molly" ringing around the arena as 'Meatball' took the centre of the cage.
Despite the backing of a Manchester crowd, the first round would spell disaster for McCann. A misplaced kick to the groin would drop the Scouser to her back before a time-out was called, but she was back on the canvas as soon as she had recovered - a brutal knee to the stomach folding her.
Bruna smelled blood with the body shots, and found McCann's liver once more with a right round kick - dropping her to her knees before piling the pressure on against the cage with more vicious shots. The round came to a close with Meatball landing a takedown after being on the receiving end of one moments earlier.
Molly looked for a quick blitz early into the second round before shooting for another takedown, finally achieving it after a minute or so of fighting on the cage, but Brasil quickly found her way back to her feet before continuing to look for the body kick which did an abundance of damage in the first. Most of the second played out by the side of the cage, but came to close with Brasil dropping McCann after a failed spin kick.
Two rounds down, Molly piled on the pressure at the start of the third, looking for a spinning elbow after a quality front push kick to the body. She managed to tee off a couple of solid strikes to her opponent's head, but ended up on her back once more when Brasil timed a sweep perfectly.
Bruna took Molly's back with a minute or so left on the clock, but up against the fence, looked more to control the fight than she did to finish it. Meatball found her way back to her feet and jumped her opponents back, looking for a rear-naked choke before being spun off and finding herself in a calf slicer as the final bell sounded.
Arguably no need for the judges after three rounds, the contest was scored 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in Brasil's favour - handing Molly her third loss in five fights. Next Gen will be hoping for more success when Paddy Pimblett takes on Bobby Green on the main card later in the event.
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