UFC strawweight Molly McCann acknowledged the impact of Bruna Brasil's early body work in her first statement on this past weekend's defeat.
McCann was among the home fighters in action at the UFC 304 pay-per-view event, held inside the newly built Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England, in the early hours of Sunday morning local time.
"Meatball" made the walk on the preliminary card in pursuit of her second straight win since moving down to 115 pounds this year. But like her final flyweight outing on UK soil last July, the Liverpool native was unable to replicate her 2022 knockouts in London.
Opposite kickboxing specialist Bruna Brasil, McCann found herself folding to a pair of brutal body shots in the opening round, the first of which came from a perfectly timed knee to the midsection.
In her reflection on the unanimous decision setback, the defeated McCann noted the importance that knee had on the rest of the fight...
McCann On UFC 304 Loss: 'Few Broken Bones...'
McCann took to social media on Sunday to give her first public reaction to the defeat close to home.
Alongside a picture showing her interaction with Brasil and her team at the fighter hotel following UFC 304, "Meatball" praised her victorious opponent on the triumph in enemy territory.
And in terms of her own performance, McCann suggested she was never able to fully recover from the knee that appeared close to finishing the fight early on.