Molly McCann admits ‘loud Scouser’ change as UFC rival ‘desires to take head off’
Molly McCann will face debutant Alexia Thainara at the O2 Arena on Saturday night as the UFC returns to London – and the Liverpudlian insists she’s more mature now
Molly McCann feels less ‘Meatball’ nowadays and more dry-aged wagyu after coming through the grinder that is seven years in the UFC.
Such an extended run in MMA’s premier company is an accomplishment in itself, but the Liverpool strawweight has plenty of unfinished business ahead of her 14th walk to the octagon at UFC London on Saturday night at the O2 Arena.
The new mature ‘Meatball’ – a nickname she picked up during her student days working at Subway – will welcome debutant Alexia Thainara to the UFC after original opponent Istela Nunes dropped out late on over visa issues.
However, McCann took the news in her stride, having experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during the course of a 7-6 record in the UFC that began with a sobering defeat to Gillian Robertson in her hometown in 2018.
The 34-year-old said: “I think when I came into the UFC, it was all ‘aargh’ and anger and I personified that loud Scouser. “But the more I have matured, the more I have understood that I don’t have to be about emotion. Even though I get emotional in the cage, I don’t fight emotionally.
“I am much more mature now and I don’t have to hate my opponent to fight them. On my UFC debut I thought I was the b******s, until Gillian humbled me. I know a percentage of debutants, when they come out, it is not always that they win because they get caught up in the show.
“But I am not going to rely on that against Alexia as she has not come halfway around the world just to make up the numbers – she has come to take my head off.
“There is one thing I do know, when there are 18,000 people singing my name and against my opponent, I know that can factor into it a little bit.
“But, on the other hand, I have to make sure I am not responding to the crowd but keeping my head clear, calm and doing the best I can under that pressure.
“The biggest thing I have learnt is how to conduct myself in wins, how to conduct myself in losses. How to be more professional everywhere.”
And staunch Evertonian McCann is hoping to come through unscathed against Brazilian Thainara so she can get a sneak preview of the Toffees’ new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.
She added: “I used to live a stone’s throw from the new ground. I have walked around it but I haven’t been in it yet.
“There is a test event on Sunday and if I get home in time, I will go. If not, I will wait until the first home game of next season. But I’d fight in a carpark in Liverpool if it meant people could watch.”
