Molly McCann: New York Bound

Molly McCann: New York Bound

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome – Booker T. Washington

After her heartbreaking and gut-wrenching defeat in her UFC debut, one comment I remember vividly was:

‘Molly McCann is perhaps the worst fighter in UFC history.’

Before her pivotal fight with Ariane Lipski, one online ‘expert’ wrote:

‘If Lipski can’t beat McCann, then I know nothing about MMA.’

When McCann beat Lipski, and with some ease, the same person wrote:

‘Lipski obviously isn’t as good as we thought she was.’

Or just maybe, McCann is better than he thought she was. Even when he was proved wrong he couldn’t accept he was.

McCann has in truth been proving people wrong her whole life. Against Lipski, she was the supposed lamb to the slaughter. But in that must-win fight in 2019, McCann found a level we hadn’t seen before. The best version of McCann we had ever seen inside an MMA cage. But it was just the beginning and not the peak of her career. Another win quickly followed, and McCann found herself inside the top 15 of the UFC flyweight division before it all started to go wrong.

“You have to deal with the cards you have been dealt, you have to fight in and outside of the cage. The world doesn’t owe me anything, life is a fight for everyone, I have to go out and get it.” McCann told me in one of our early interviews. Her patented resilience has come in handy many times in her life.

Two straight defeats in the restrictions of a world engulfed by Covid left McCann on the brink. Her UFC contract expiring, another defeat would have left her looking for another world to let the fists fly. Another sport in all likelihood.

But McCann seems to thrive in such times. With three straight wins and two spectacular finishes, McCann is now back where she was pre-pandemic. And where she belongs. The Liverpool fan-favourite is now a UFC-ranked flyweight once again. The current 15th position she holds now is unlikely to satisfy her for long.

In many ways, McCann has been rewarded for her recent form. A new 8-fight contract and a little trip to New York with real meaning. And hope.

McCann (13-4) will grace Madison Square Garden on November 12th, and the 13th-ranked Erin Blanchfield (9-1) will be in the opposite corner. A proper fight, the winner will get an opportunity to enter the upper echelons of the UFC flyweight division. A title shot suddenly looks realistic. And close. McCann is on the verge of something very special indeed.

A fighter who has been on the brink of the infamous UFC walking papers on two separate occasions, she is now on the brink of something quite incredible. A UFC title run might seem unlikely to some, but even at her lowest, McCann never lost belief. In the form of her life, she could just be two fights, two wins away from a shot at Valentino Shevchenko. Even her harshest critics would then be forced to give McCann her due. A feel-good story if ever there was one.

McCann has always been a born fighter, and now she is reaping the rewards. The Liverpool native has always been popular outside of the few keyboard warriors, but in less than a year it has reached quite staggering levels. It is some story. And it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The Garden is an iconic sporting theatre, with many great stories to tell in its extensive history. It may soon have another.