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UFC: Molly McCann says she considered retirement before dropping to strawweight
Molly McCann, who makes her UFC strawweight debut against Diana Belbita on Saturday, says she considered retirement after July's defeat by Julija Stoliarenko in London.
www.bbc.co.uk
It was at Euston station in July, waiting for a train back to Liverpool, when Molly McCann opened up.
McCann had just suffered defeat by Julija Stoliarenko at UFC London at the O2 Arena - her second successive first-round submission loss.
The chastening experience caused McCann to question her future in mixed martial arts (MMA), prompting the 33-year-old to turn to her team and say she was "done".
"You can't co-main in your home country and be embarrassed in that way and think 'I'm the best in the world' because I wasn't," McCann tells BBC Sport.
"What we do is so time consuming, mentally draining, the fans have so much of a say on your life. I was like 'I don't know how I'm going to get out of this one', because the world ridiculed me like I was the scum of the earth to every man and his dog."
McCann had momentarily lost confidence in her ability, but her coach Paul Rimmer's belief never wavered.
He sat McCann down in a coffee shop and told her what she needed to do.
"Listen, this is what you're doing. I promise I'd tell you if I thought you were going to get hurt or you can't challenge for things. But Molly, the girls are too big here, you need to drop down," said Rimmer.
McCann has spent her entire UFC career, which has yielded six wins from 11 fights in almost six years, at flyweight.
But when she returns to the octagon in Las Vegas on Saturday to face Romania's Diana Belbita, she will do so at strawweight.
"I've got a new sense of calm, reserve and contentment at this weight. I'm at peace with it," said McCann.
"It's a harsh reality I've spent my whole career at the wrong weight, but maybe my skillset wasn't ready for this weight class until now.
"I'm in the shape of my life, and if you can't beat them you've got to join them. I can't beat the bigger girls so I've got to use their tact.
"And we've done it correctly. I'm not killing myself to make the weight because I've been so disciplined. We've dropped a weight category but I'm still hitting the same numbers on my lifting as I was at 125lb. It's a bit of a rebirth."
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Molly sometimes comes across as really down-to-Earth, it's just a shame there was so much smoke blown up her backside by those Bar Stool dorks.
If she doesn't beat Belbita, though, she needs to change her nickname from "Molly" to "Eye".
