\u201cI give my hidings and I take my hidings and so they have seen me with snapped ligaments in my knee, broken feet, broken toes, broken hands, stitches, broken legs,\u201d Molly McCann says of the damage she has endured as a fighter and the impact it has had on her mum and her partner, Fran Parman. \u201cIt\u2019s traumatic for Fran and even more traumatic for my mum. I\u2019m 35 and I\u2019ve been in the gym since I was 12. I had my first fight at 16. I\u2019ve spent most of my life fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCann boxed as a teenager and she won an ABA title. But, at a time when women\u2019s boxing was still undermined, she turned to mixed martial arts and eventually became the most successful female British fighter in the UFC. McCann retired in March<\/a> after 14 savage UFC bouts; but, within days, she became a professional boxer. On Saturday night she will have her second contest in boxing\u2019s paid ranks.<\/p>\n At home in Liverpool<\/a> the rigours of boxing are etched into McCann\u2019s face. She has just finished another gruelling training session while locked deep within a weight cut. McCann makes me smile and wince when she opens the fridge door to reveal a padlock on the container which stores the tastier food that only Parman can enjoy. But she believes her partner and her mum have to absorb the most strain before she fights Ebonie Cotton at the NEC in Birmingham.<\/p>\n \u201cMum\u2019s always struggled, because her life\u2019s about protecting me,\u201d McCann says. \u201cShe likes to be in control of everything. But I\u2019m the thing she can\u2019t control. We\u2019ve now got this really cool balance where she knows what to say to not trigger me and I know how much information to give without triggering her. But, two weeks before the fight, nightmares start again because it\u2019s a lot for a parent to deal with. I\u2019m still Mum\u2019s little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Molly McCann spars with her trainer Jay Carney in the No Limits Boxing Club in Liverpool. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n A late November afternoon darkens and the boxing on McCann\u2019s giant television screen glows. We\u2019ve talked while watching an early Miguel Cotto fight, and Terence Crawford\u2019s masterful destruction of Errol Spence, as McCann\u2019s love of boxing shines out.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still enough light outside for me to see Parman return home. Knowing we\u2019re in the midst of our interview, Parman, who became a reality TV star on The Only Way is Essex, opens the front door quietly.<\/p>\n I ask McCann how Parman is coping with this latest camp. \u201cFran,\u201d the fighter hollers, \u201cwe\u2019ve got a question for you.\u201d<\/p>\n A smiling Parman offers me an impromptu hug but her expression changes when I ask about McCann\u2019s next fight. \u201cI get bad anxiety,\u201d Parman says. \u201cI know Molly can fight but you see her go through all the dieting and hard work and it\u2019s really difficult. I can\u2019t go to this next fight because I panic so much.\u201d<\/p>\n Did Parman attend McCann\u2019s first pro boxing bout when an outclassed Kate Radomska was rescued by her corner in the sixth round<\/a>? \u201cYes. It\u2019s very different from the UFC because she wants to prove herself even more and she wants those titles. I really believe in Molly but seeing her go through all of it is too much.\u201d<\/p>\n McCann suggests that \u201cthere\u2019s a reason why some men, awesome fighters, leave their families to get away from home. But this camp\u2019s been the best one so far. Fran\u2019s learning not to think \u2018poor Molly\u2019 and not to take things personally. Like my mum says: \u2018Fran, if you\u2019re on the bus, you\u2019re on the fucking bus.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Molly McCann aims a kick at Luana Carolina during their UFC bout at the O2 Arena in March 2022. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n In past relationships, McCann would become frustrated when her partners couldn\u2019t understand her psychology as a fighter. \u201cYou\u2019re claustrophobic in your body because you just want to compete. You\u2019ve got pressure on you, you\u2019re starving and you don\u2019t get five minutes to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Parman nods: \u201cI just think you\u2019re going to war. My grandad used to talk about the war a lot and what he went through. I\u2019m like: \u2018OK, that\u2019s Molly. She\u2019s a soldier.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n After Parman leaves I ask McCann how she broke the news to her mum that she was going to swap the UFC<\/a> cage for the boxing ring. \u201cMe and Fran were in Italy after I retired on the Saturday,\u201d she says. \u201cOn the Wednesday I agreed a deal with Eddie Hearn. Four days [of retirement]. On the Thursday my mum rings and I told her I\u2019ve just signed a 10-fight deal with Eddie. Put the phone down. She\u2019s shouting: \u2018Molly!\u2019 She thought it was done because when I retired we hugged and she was like: \u2018Sweet Lord, it\u2019s over.\u2019 I eventually rang my mum back and she said: \u2018I can get on board with this because I know you know how to box with your eyes shut.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI then rang my nan because she\u2019s the matriarch. She said: \u2018I might come to these fights.\u2019 She came to watch me win a national championship and the world title in MMA<\/a>. So I said: \u2018You\u2019ll only come to one fight \u2013 when I headline Goodison Park \u2013 because you\u2019re a good omen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n McCann looks steadily at me. \u201cI have so much experience from the highest level in the UFC that I\u2019m on the express train to a world title by the end of next year or early 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n She is relieved to be back in boxing as the UFC was punishing physically and emotionally. I often wondered how McCann, an avowed socialist who feels an affinity with Zohran Mamdani<\/a> rather than the many Maga-mad zealots who support the UFC, dealt with the reactionary worldview and homophobia that often clogs the organisation. Dana White, the head of the UFC, failed to sanction fighters such as Sean Strickland, who regularly spewed out homophobic abuse, and Bryce Mitchell, who praised Hitler as \u201ca good guy I\u2019d go fishing with. He fought for his country. He wanted to purify it by kicking the greedy Jews out, that were destroying his country and turning them all into gays.\u201d<\/p>\n White dismissed him as \u201cdumb and ignorant\u201d but defended Mitchell\u2019s right to \u201cfree speech\u201d<\/a>. As a gay woman who campaigns against prejudice, surely McCann felt disheartened? \u201cNot any more,\u201d McCann says. \u201cWhen I was younger it was a lot harder. But when you understand the kind of person you\u2019re dealing with you get to choose to be offended or not. Of course it\u2019s hard to be in rooms with people who are homophobic or racist or misogynistic. But I\u2019ve learned when to stand my ground and when it\u2019s just not worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n McCann shrugs: \u201cI\u2019m a scouse female gay athlete who supports Everton \u2013 it\u2019s like my cards are marked already. I used to fume because the world has a big problem but, the older I\u2019ve got, the less agitated I\u2019ve become.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Molly McCann admits: \u2018The older I\u2019ve got, the less agitated I\u2019ve become.\u2019 Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n What does she think of White \u2013 a staunch ally of Donald Trump? \u201cHonestly, when you were about to fight he made you believe you\u2019re a gangster. He was also very courteous to me. Personally or online, when asked about me, he never said anything wrong. After I retired I gave him a hug and said: \u2018Thank you for everything you\u2019ve done for me.\u2019 He then gave me a job to be an [UFC] ambassador which he didn\u2019t need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n