Reveals therapy after back-to-back defeats
Molly McCann admits she would ‘call it a day’ in the UFC if she were to suffer a third consecutive defeat, Joshua Rogers reports for Talk Sport.
‘Meatball’ makes her UFC strawweight debut in a rematch with Diana Belbita on February 3 after suffering back-to-back defeats against Erin Blanchfield and Julija Stoliarenko.
The 33-year-old Scouser has dropped down a weight class for the upcoming bout and is desperate to get back to winning ways.
However, another loss could spell the end for her UFC career as she’s threatened to walk away from the promotion if the fight doesn’t go her way.
When asked how important it was for her to pick up a win against Belbita, McCann exclusively told talkSPORT: “It’s crucial isn’t it?
“I think three [defeats] on the bounce for me, I’d be calling it a day.”
The former Cage Warriors champion went 3-3 through her first six UFC contests.
McCann also put together an impressive three-fight win streak between 2021-2022 that included back-to-back finishes via spinning elbow.
That spectacular run was snapped at UFC 281 in November 2022 after a crushing first round submission defeat to Blanchfield.
The former flyweight then suffered a second consecutive first-round defeat when Stoliarenko forced her to submit during their bout in July last year.
The Liverpudlian admits that coming back from those defeats has been hard, and revealed she’s sought out the help of sports therapists after receiving negative comments and abuse from trolls online.
“I had a bit of therapy to be honest with you,” ‘Meatball’ said in response to how she’s mentally overcome recent setbacks.
“I’ve been doing a bit of mind mapping and sports PTSD therapy because I was noticing coming up to fight week that I was just getting very nervous and anxious because of the external factors of trolls online.”
However, after working through things, McCann says she now feels ‘calm’ and ‘ready’ heading into her strawweight clash with Belbita.
“It’s a lot to deal with when you put so much pressure on yourself to be the best in the world and then you get your a*** handed to you – it’s not always the best,” she said.
“You’ve got to go away, reassess, and see what you need to do to fix that, and that’s where I am.”
McCann and Belbita previously fought in 2019 at a UFC Fight Night card in Boston.
Molly won via unanimous decision in what was the Romanian’s UFC debut and now the pair have decided to run it back at a lower weight class.
“We’ve fought before at the weight class above on her debut,” McCann explained.
“When I dropped to this weight class she said can we run it back and I’ve never turned down a fight.
“Maybe that’s why my record is what it is – I’ll fight anyone on any given day, and stylistically for me, this one where I can shine.”
Previewing the fight, McCann said she expects her opponent to ‘run at her from the bell’ and have a ‘consistent pace coming forward’.
‘The Warrior Princess’ is 4-6 since entering the UFC but 2-2 since dropping down to strawweight.
Her last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in October 2023.
McCann vs Belbita goes down on Saturday night at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas on the UFC Fight Night: Dolidze vs. Imavov card.
