Preview: UFC Fight Night 204 ‘Volkov vs. Aspinall’

Women’s Flyweights

NR | Molly McCann (11-4, 4-3 UFC) vs. NR | Luana Carolina (8-2, 3-1 UFC)

ODDS: McCann (-130), Carolina (+110)

As with most McCann fights, this should be an entertaining scrap. “Meatball” came to the UFC with a bit of hype, but her debut was about as deflating as possible. Fighting in her hometown of Liverpool, McCann was taken down and submitted by Gillian Robertson without much issue. However, McCann has rebounded quite well to make a name for herself as one of the most exciting fighters in the division. While she is clearly not a top athlete, she was able to string together an impressive winning streak in wars over Priscila Cachoeira, Ariane Lipski and Diana Belbita. With McCann obviously having put in work towards her wrestling, long the clear weakness of her game, she has definitely maximized her physical gifts, even if some one-sided losses to better athletes limit any hope of a championship upside. McCann fights in England for the first time in three years against Carolina, who has also come along well during her time on the UFC roster. The Brazilian cuts a much different figure than McCann as a long athlete, but “Dread” was nowhere near as battle-tested after beating weak competition on the regional scene. The situation looked good whenever Carolina could get the ball rolling, but she showed an obvious discomfort against anyone willing to steel themselves and fight back. Since a 2020 loss to Lipski, Carolina has made some impressive improvements in that regard. Her two fights in 2021 saw her mostly get outwrestled by Poliana Botelho and Lupita Godinez, only to stay calm and use her size advantage to get back to her feet and attack whenever the opportunity presented itself. It is an ugly and low-output style, but Carolina’s physicality has been enough to make up the difference, which is certainly a possibility here. While Carolina might be hitting the harder individual shots, the bet is that McCann can press the action enough to take this on the scorecards, even if she will be walking her usual tightrope while doing so. The pick is McCann via decision.

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