Molly McCann suffers submission loss to Erin Blanchfield in opening round at UFC 281 in New York

Molly McCann was ruthlessly submitted in the opening round by Erin Blanchfield as the British fighter's winning run was ended at UFC 281 in New York.

McCann had boosted her profile with two explosive knockout wins in Britain earlier this year, but she was quickly overpowered by American Blanchfield, who secured a Kimura to stop the bout after three-and-a-half minutes.

Blanchfield took down the Liverpudlian before attempting her first Kimura, which McCann was able to escape.

But Blanchfield refused to be denied and pounded McCann with unanswered blows before locking in another submission attempt, forcing the Brit to tap out.

"I was definitely surprised the referee didn't stop it," said Blanchfield in her post-fight interview.

"I was throwing so many punches, threw a few elbows. She was still moving, she wasn't completely out but it probably could have been stopped earlier.

"The first one she was blocking my legs and I couldn't get over the head, so I knew she was going to get out but the second one my leg was over her arm so I knew it would be there."

In the main event, Alex Pereira produced a stunning knockout over Israel Adesanya in the fifth and final round to claim the UFC middleweight title.

Adesanya led 39-37 on all three scorecards heading into the final round, but he was suddenly stunned by a flurry of punches from Pereira before the referee stopped the fight.

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar had earlier lost the final bout of his MMA career when he was brutally dropped by a flying knee from Chris Gutierrez in the first round.

Dustin Poirier also made Michael Chandler tap in the third round of a bloody battle, extending his record to 21-6 in the UFC.