LAS VEGAS – Michelle Montague met the media Saturday after her win over Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC Fight Night 274.
Montague (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) had little trouble with Silva (10-7-1 MMA, 5-7-1 UFC) in their women's bantamweight fight on the prelims at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas and rolled to a unanimous decision, though she had some less-than-satisfying moments in the middle frame.
Montague wasn't thrilled about her performance, though. She started strong and looked like she might steamroll Silva for a TKO, but Silva survived and Montague's biggest threat was early.
"That was harder than it needed to be," Montague said at her post-fight news conference. "Another big learning fight for me. It’s only my second fight in the UFC against someone who has fought the best, beaten the best, and gone to war with the best. So it’s not that I’m shocked I didn’t finish her, but I’m pretty disappointed in some of the places my mind was at during the fight.
"… I don’t know what happened in the second. I was doing things I’m better than, and I made it harder on myself against someone who could capitalize on that. It’s a big risk to take, but we’ll train that out of me."
The loss was Silva's fifth straight, and Montague's win may have been the nail in the coffin to send her packing from the UFC. But Montague is right that she's been in there with some experienced opponents, including former champions Raquel Pennington and Holly Holm.
Montague also had to contend with fighting a former training partner at American Top Team. They've had tons of minutes in the gym together as teammates before Silva transitioned to the Fighting Nerds in Brazil. But she got started in a hurry, which was the game plan.
"I’m happy I didn’t start slow," she said. "That was my goal: to come out aggressive. Instead of feeling things out, I wanted to attack immediately, and I did that within the first few seconds by landing strikes and getting a takedown. I’m proud of that, but I need to maintain that pace throughout the fight."
Check out Montague's post-fight interview in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Michelle Montague disappointed with no finish in still green UFC era