Molly McCann ended the UFC Vegas 36 prelims with an entertaining slugfest, coming out on top over Ji Yeon Kim.
The lone bout on the women’s side at UFC Vegas 36 saw Molly McCann taking on Ji Yeon Kim in a flyweight contest.
“Meatball” McCann had lost two straight and had her back to the wall on Saturday. Kim, meanwhile, was 1-2 in her last three.
McCann opened up aggressively to start, and that’s putting it lightly. McCann sprinted across the octagon to begin and landed a big overhand right, and she didn’t slow down from there. She tried her best to get Kim to slug with her early and she succeeded and landed a couple of good right hands in the pocket as Kim seemed eager to trade hooks with her early. However McCann soon shot for a takedown that was stuffed, and coming out of the failed takedown attempt McCann came forward aggressively again, but was dropped after a big clash of heads. McCann held on for dear life and she did a good job, grappling with Kim for the majority of the round to survive after the head clash.
Throwing bombs early 💣👀 #UFCVegas36 pic.twitter.com/h22RvHXo10
— UFC (@ufc) September 4, 2021
Round two opened similar to the first, with McCann walking Kim down with loads of pressure and looking to land right hands. McCann had success early in the round landing good combinations but Kim started to settle down and do some good work as well, finding a home for her straight right hand. Despite Kim finding some success with that, it didn’t slow McCann down at all. She continued to walk through everything Kim was throwing and landed the biggest shots of the round. It didn’t help matters for Kim that McCann landed a takedown in the final seconds.
Closing out RD 2 with some PRESSURE 👊 #UFCVegas36 pic.twitter.com/8g6wFRpK7s
— UFC (@ufc) September 4, 2021
The third round slowed down a bit from the frenetic pace of the first two rounds. McCann slowed, but she kept going forward and still landed at a higher percentage than Kim. Although this was likely Kim’s best round, as she started going to the body and parried more of McCann’s shots this round. However, it was still a round that was very similar to the first two, with McCann just walking forward and landing the bigger shots. The two women ended the fight swinging, but there was no doubt on who the winner was going to be on the cards.
Left it all in the cage! 😤 #UFCVegas36 pic.twitter.com/871bzw2xfi
— UFC (@ufc) September 4, 2021
Molly McCann def. Ji Yeon Kim by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
