Molly McCann delighted to be fighting near Liverpool as she faces Bruna Brasil at strawweight
Molly McCann delighted to be fighting near Liverpool as she faces Bruna Brasil at strawweight
Molly McCann (14-6, fighting out of Liverpool, England) collides with Dana White’s Contender Series alum Bruna Brasil (9-4-1, fighting out of Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil) at strawweight
Molly McCann (14-6, fighting out of Liverpool, England) collides with Dana White’s Contender Series alum Bruna Brasil (9-4-1, fighting out of Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil) at strawweight
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00:00Another Brazilian in the UK, I guess this is this old hat for you, but now here in Manchester rather than London.
00:12Yeah, I think this is Brazilian number nine, and we tend to have really, really good fights,
00:20and they always give me the gamest Brazilians to come out of Brazil, so not new, lad.
00:27Did you know much about her before they matched you up with her?
00:29I think she's traded wins and losses, and she's joined the UFC.
00:32Yeah, like I say, you know, I always watch every fight card.
00:36She fought my friend Shona Bannon last year, and I remember we had not a bit of an altercation in the changing room,
00:44but I went in to train, and a corner team asked me to leave, because I'm Shona's friend, so we did,
00:52and she got the win, and I really wanted to fight her, and I think she wanted to fight me too.
00:57Did you ask for this fight, or did the UFC kind of know that this was going to be the path?
01:01I'm not like making it out to be something more than it was, but it's a fight that interested me because she's game.
01:08She's got different facets to her that I'll have to figure out when I'm in there, do you know what I mean?
01:14How's life been for you since your last fight? Because obviously fighting in London is one thing,
01:18but you and Paddy and Tom are going to be massive stars here.
01:21In Manchester, you've had the show, that's obviously been well received,
01:25so what's life been like, just even outside of fighting?
01:28Do you remember when it kicked in for me and Paddy the first time, and the rocket kind of went poof?
01:34It's kind of been quite similar. This time, I've known how to handle it.
01:41The first time, a little aged HD kid got caught in the lights, all the great stuff that came with the fame,
01:48and then had to pay the price with all the negative stuff as well,
01:52and I feel like now I'm in a space in my life where I'm very content with who I am,
01:58mentally, spiritually, physically, fight IQ-wise.
02:02I've grown up, so it's a lot easier to take. It's still not easy, it still requires a lot.
02:09You do have to be a different kind of person when you're walking out on the street,
02:13and you're going into social situations that can still be quite tough,
02:17but it's a blessed stress to be living this life that we're doing.
02:22If you could have asked me at UFC Liverpool a couple of years ago,
02:28when I got absolutely filled in by Gillian Robertson, and I looked fat, white, dark hair,
02:35proper wrinkles everywhere, chipped teeth, if you could say in six or seven years,
02:41Molly McCann's going to be fighting in Manchester with her best friend,
02:45and with all these amazing things that would happen, I'd say shut up.
02:48Do you know what I mean? So I'm very, very happy.
02:50You said you're kind of treating this kind of rocket a little differently from the first one.
02:54Was that a conversation you had with yourself before, like,
02:57if this happens to me again, I'm going to treat it differently,
02:59or did something happen this time that made you rethink it?
03:02I think just my mental well-being was so damaged after, just before I fought Aaron Blanchfield.
03:09It was like so much to take in, and I just had extreme burnout.
03:14Obviously, like you know, I went to a bit of therapy to try and work through that kind of thing,
03:18and I realised what the triggers are if you're going to start going that way again.
03:23So I just know myself more to be like, if I'm starting to feel like that, reacting this way,
03:28take yourself out of that situation, and not give so much to everyone,
03:34and especially something like this, like this whole week,
03:37I'm very calm and relaxed and saving the magic for Saturday or Sunday morning.
03:43Does the weight cut to 125 have to do with that too,
03:45because you kind of have to be dialed in a lot more for those 10 extra pounds rather than Bantamweight?
03:50Flyweight, strawweight, all the weights.
03:55Yeah, I was always saying to you guys, like I give everything that I could with every single fight,
04:00and to make this weight, I've found something else.
04:04And I feel like you're just a bit more primal, like I'm more alert, I'm more concise,
04:12I'm more to the point, I'm probably fuming a lot more because I'm a little bit more hungry.
04:17But yeah, it just makes you a lot more calmer, I think I'm ready for the job at hand.
04:23And there's one that, unrelated to this fight, I don't know if you saw,
04:26but on November 1st there's going to be some new rule changes.
04:29They're going to allow the 12 to 6 elbows, and they've redefined what a grounded opponent is in the octagon.
04:35I'm curious, did you know about that, and what do you make of these new rules?
04:38Yeah, I've seen that.
04:39Last night actually, me and Paddy were watching the telly and it came up on our phone,
04:43and I'm all game for it.
04:45I want soccer kicks to the head, I'd have a good go at it all, you know what I mean?
04:49Do you know what I mean? Even if they said we'll take the gloves off, yeah?
04:52I'd have a good go, so yeah, I'm game.
04:56Well earlier today Paddy did an interview and he said a few weeks ago he wasn't really mentally in this fight,
05:00and his coaches were thinking about pulling him out, and then he sort of turned it around.
05:04Could you feel that a few weeks ago with him?
05:06Personally, this is the hardest fight camp me and Patrick have had outside of our professional career.
05:14Just personally, losses and grievances that we've had to go through, it's took a lot.
05:22And all I know when the pressure's on, we know how to pull it out the bag.
05:28And I wouldn't say his performance was in any kind of, oh he's not good enough there,
05:35or anything that was never in question, it was just more, can you cope with what's just happened,
05:40as well as having two kids, as well as having the pressure of this fight?
05:43Molly, can you cope with what you're going through? Is this okay? Blah, blah, blah.
05:48And we have honest conversations in our gym, and he's just honest enough to be that with the media,
05:54so not in what we expect for him.
05:56We know you guys are fighters, right? But when you have to deal with the outer cage stuff as well,
06:01and you have to go through a camp, it's not happening to you out when you're not preparing for a fight,
06:04it's happening to you at the worst possible time.
06:06Do you at least take something from it that you know, wow, I can still do this, I can still survive this,
06:11and I can still get in there and fight on Saturday, and that proves something to you,
06:14that you can't really be broken at all?
06:16Yeah, I think I said something with TNT Sports, I had the worst start to camp that I could probably ever have,
06:24in terms of what went on in my personal life, and I just remember I hadn't slept or rested in a few days,
06:31because I was just really grieving, and I come in the gym, and I'm five-fives with Chanel Dyer,
06:37and I was asleep, crying in between the rounds, because I was just in bits, and I got it done,
06:42and I was like, oh my fucking God, I have got that dog in me, do you know what I mean?
06:47And I've seen the same with Patrick, so life can't break us, the weight can't break us, the trials can't break us,
06:53do you know what I mean? Sometimes I might lose in the cage, but even that doesn't break me.
06:59I mean, I don't want to get too invasive here, and I'm aware of some of the stuff you guys have had to deal with,
07:03but are you okay now? Are you happier now?
07:05Look at this face, look at this hair and these teeth, I'm all good, mate, it's just, life is life,
07:11and people go through losses, and it's just about grieving them losses and pushing through,
07:17and I think probably the best thing for me was to be in a fight camp, because maybe old Molly might have ended up down the pub,
07:25or probably just trying to run away from the pain, but I was sat in my house with my two dogs,
07:31and I had to go through it all on my own, and I swear to God, you will see the best me on Saturday night.
07:36When you look back at your appearance for your debut, compared to Molly McGlam we see today,
07:41do you wish you could have given her some advice on how to freshen up a little bit?
07:44Yeah, Molly McGlam. I am where I'm supposed to be, God and the universe has put me where I'm supposed to be at the right time,
07:58and was I ready for this then? No I weren't. What did I have to fight IQ for this weight and this part of my career and life? No I weren't.
08:06Yous have seen me grow up in front of you all, for the good and for the bad, and I've learned from my mistakes,
08:13and I'm happy where I am, and it shows to people that you can be a normal person, and you can have the highest highs and you can have the lowest lows,
08:23and no matter what you can keep on moving forward, and anything is possible.
08:27Is anyone else allowed to speak, or is it just you two?
08:31Just us two for now. Just two quick ones. In the stateside, we're seeing this kind of big explosion in women's sports.
08:39Ethiopia NBA? Yes, that's where I was going.
08:42Angel, Reese, let's go.
08:44Have you kind of seen that translate over into now more interest in women's MMA,
08:49because obviously you guys have kind of been on the forefront of sports in general with the men,
08:55but within the last six, seven months it's kind of taken to another level stateside.
09:00Yeah, do you know what, a couple of years ago when we had that mad night in London,
09:05and I won, and then I feel like Katie Taylor beat Amanda Serrano,
09:10and then England won the Euros in the football slash soccer for the Americans,
09:15and then March Madness happened, and then Caitlin Clarke and Angel Reese,
09:20and it's just like women in sports are starting to really get the respect they deserve,
09:28and it's good to see, it's positive, it's nice to see that men can bring,
09:34what I've noticed, I obviously support Everton Football Club, I'll go and watch the women,
09:40and you see dads who get the kids on the weekends, or full-time dads take the kids to the match,
09:45because it's something that they can do with their sons or their daughters,
09:49so it's nice to see that the vibe's a little bit different at a female sport event,
09:55it's a bit more empowering, and a little bit less negative,
09:59so it's great to see, and it's nice to see the girls getting paid.
10:05Last one, can I get your thoughts on the main and co-main for Sunday morning?
10:09I think, I'm not disrespecting either fight, and all the fighters,
10:14but I would love to see Leon win TKO, sorry Bilal, but he's our boy,
10:20and I think Tom and Kate, it's going to be a finish, I don't think it's going to be a five,
10:26and I think Tom is probably going to get a submission win.
10:32I just want to ask you about the TV show you did, you put yourself out there,
10:37it can go your way sometimes when you do that, what's the reception been like since it aired?
10:42In all honesty, since my fight in February, I haven't received much hate in my life,
10:48which is quite mad, I think I've been as vulnerable as I can be to the world,
10:53and it's paid me back tenfold, I think people have just seen me a little bit more of the authentic me,
11:00as opposed to the sound clips, the sound bites that the media will put up of me drunk or eating with Paddy somewhere,
11:09but the city has really got behind us, I think we've made the city really fucking proud,
11:15and I'd like to say the rest of the country as well, it's boss to make where you're from proud,
11:22and put them on notice, do you know what I mean?
11:25Absolutely, and just one more from me, you're settling into a new division now,
11:28when you're looking up the rankings, you're looking at the champion and the challengers,
11:32what do you make of your new home?
11:34I'm not looking past Bruno Brazil.
11:37Molly, you mentioned about the highest highs and lowest lows,
11:41and when we look back at that first half of 2022, those back to back, spinning back elbows,
11:46it was an absolutely amazing time for you, and then after that, what you've overcome since then,
11:52has been incredible, and starting the year off with a bang, back in the win column,
11:56can you talk about how much you've grown as an athlete and as a person due to those circumstances?
12:02I feel as if I was quite nervous fighting a grappler in the high weight division,
12:07if they were really outsized me, so I was somewhat petrified to make a mistake,
12:14but at this weight category, I feel like I don't need to carry that negativity with me,
12:20it's just only focusing on myself and me improving my skill set,
12:25that's a wonderful place for a fighter to be,
12:28the pressure I feel is only getting bigger with the TV shows,
12:31or with the more notoriety and with being on a pay-per-view card,
12:36but I'm at the age now, and I'm at the part of my career where you'll have to correct me,
12:42but I don't know if this is fight 12 or 13 in the UFC for me,
12:46so there's no more lessons to be learned now,
12:51it's going, reframe a fight week to coming in and just enjoying it, having fun,
12:57not wasting my energy, and it's my job,
13:01I used to think being in the UFC was just the prize,
13:04but it's not, it's working up them rankings and it's working towards the belt,
13:08so until I'm there, I'm not.
13:11After those back-to-back, spinning back elbows,
13:14did you feel like you were getting addicted to the knockout and those viral moments,
13:19and are you craving that again this weekend in Manchester?
13:22I'm not craving a finish, what's going to come is going to come,
13:28and I think that was the difference,
13:30I'm lucky that my last three wins have all come by a finish,
13:34and I feel as if when something kind of clicks, it clicks,
13:40so I used to have to chase the finish at the higher weight because they were too big,
13:45so I'd have to engage and force the interaction because I was too small,
13:50but being at this weight, even though I'm still fucking smaller than everyone,
13:54it's not like ten inch difference, it's like three or four inches,
14:00which is like, it feels like it's the same range for me,
14:02so I can take my time, if I'm taken down now,
14:06I'm the same size and strength as what they are,
14:09and the reloads that we do, so I remember on a fourth, like Julius Storilenko,
14:14there was 20 pounds difference the day that we weighed in,
14:17as we were making the walk to the cage, whereas the last fight it was like,
14:21near enough the same, do you know what I mean,
14:23and then you could see that in the performance,
14:25so made the rod for my own back in the beginning of my career,
14:28but we're here in the end.
14:31You and Paddy have both shown you can go out there on your own,
14:35without each other being on the same card,
14:37but do you feel a lot more powerful in there,
14:40knowing that Paddy's going to be fighting after you,
14:42and all your teammates as well are on Cage Warriors tomorrow night too?
14:46Yeah, I feel as if it's my job to make sure I don't send to Z-West,
14:51so I can't go out and lose first, do you know what I mean,
14:54I have to win for myself, but we are that close, that would rock,
14:58and you see that with the New Zealand lads and the Australian boys,
15:01or even some in America, it can be, probably can be a bit upsetting,
15:08but we just bring something else out of each other,
15:11and when I trained yesterday, honest to God, I was just on fire,
15:15and then he was like, right, I've got to level that up,
15:18do you know what I mean, so it's a positive,
15:21we're just pushing each other towards greatness,
15:23and then after the training sessions, it was mad,
15:25last night we came back into the hotel room,
15:28and Embedder came on, and you think it's mad,
15:31because obviously our face is everywhere,
15:34but we were like, oh my God, we're the Embedder thumbnail,
15:37do you know what I mean, and then we were just lying in bed,
15:39and put the telly on, and then BBC One was on,
15:42and our show was on, and I'm drinking Guinness like this,
15:45and his face is like that, and we were laughing our heads off,
15:48Paul Rimmer even put it on his Instagram yesterday,
15:51but I don't know how many more fights anyone has,
15:55do you know what I mean, you could have a life-threatening injury
15:58in the octagon, but to know that I've definitely got one more with him,
16:03and it's in the North West, and we're getting to do it together,
16:06at the most content, and the highest level that we can be,
16:11look at the shape of us, do you know what I mean,
16:14some fucking shape, so it's just boss,
16:18the changing room's going to be fucking boss.
16:22Molly.
16:24It best be good, lad.
16:26When it comes to Saturday, Sunday night,
16:29how do you plan to tackle Saturday,
16:31are you planning to sleep all day and get up fighting fit,
16:34or how do you plan, or just lots of coffee?
16:37I've changed my sleep like the last two weeks I've made,
16:41to stay up until after fight time,
16:45we've been doing like acclimation work,
16:48to make sure that we're staying awake and we're working through,
16:51the body's going to do what the body's going to do on Saturday,
16:54if I want to rest and sleep then I'm going to do that,
16:57before we go to the arena,
16:59I'll probably have an All Black Everton drink,
17:04from Applied Nutrition and then just go and handle shit, lad.
17:09Thanks everyone, have a nice day.