Molly wobble
Mccann fighting fit after ‘ sad’ defeat
The Liverpudlian has endured a difficult few months following her unanimous decision defeat to Talia Santos in July, with injury and Covid- 19 restrictions keeping her out of the gym.
Mccann, 30, turned to socialising to fill the void left by her inability to train but was still plagued by an overwhelming feeling of unfulfillment.
“I was just masking my pain by enjoying myself with everyone else,” Mccann said. “But the underlying feeling in my head, my heart and my belly was like, ‘ You’re not being who you’re supposed to be’.
“But I couldn’t do anything about it. The gyms still weren’t open, I was injured. It was just really f*** ing sad.” Although it didn’t seem like it at the time, Mccann reckons her time away from the gym was a blessing in disguise.
She said: “I needed the last four months to recharge and realise that I do love fighting and it is my life. After the fight, I just didn’t even want into the gym.
“I’d go to the gym every day, but I was thinking to myself, ‘ Do I really want this?’ Sometimes you just need a little breath and you need to breathe with what’s gone down in your life.”
Despite defeat to Santos derailing her plans to mix it with the flyweight division’s elite in 2021, ‘ Meatball’ has refused to dwell on what might have been.
“It’s just another chapter in the book,” she said. “The destination has not changed, just the to step amount of pit stops on the way. We’ve just added a few more. I love a comeback story.
“I needed the loss. I don’t know why, but it was God’s plan.”
Mccann will look to get back in the win column in February against former two- division Shooto champion Lara Procopio, who she’ll face at UFC Fight Night 186.
The ex- Cage Warriors 125lb queen is expecting an all- out war with the UFC rookie but is confident she’ll have her hand raised.
“She’s like all the Brazilians I’ve fought,” said Mccann. “They’re the same as me. They just take and absorb punishment and just keep coming forward.
“She’s very one dimensional in terms of straight lines and straight shots. If I fight the Ariane Lipski fight with the pace of the Priscilla Cachoeira fight, then it’s a finish.”