‘Take back little Molly’ – McCann takes pay cut to box

New sport aged 35. World title within eight fights. The first UFC fighter to win a boxing world title. Headline at Goodison Park.

For Molly ‘Meatball’ McCann, all the above is on her hit list. On Saturday she steps into the boxing ring for the first time as a professional, six months after she retired from MMA and 16 years after she last boxed.

McCann was a promising amateur before switching to MMA, winning an ABA title.

The odds are stacked against McCann but she is used to that. Her naysayers were often louder than her supporters during her UFC career.

“Since I was a little girl, my dream was to be a world champion in boxing,” she says.

“I’m not here to believe people can put down my dreams and ambitions and what I want to be.

“I kind of let that happen in the MMA world and now it’s time to take back who little Molly was and why she started fighting.”

McCann’s training base is at No Limits Boxing Gym in Liverpool. Her interview with BBC Sport takes place moments after a session, in a little room upstairs with a shower in the corner.

As it gets started, McCann leaves for a moment to ask the gym floor to keep the noise down. They oblige.

Despite never reaching the very top of the UFC title mountain, McCann retired as the most famous female MMA fighter the UK has ever produced.

With performance and sponsorship bonuses included, she earned upwards of £50,000 for her last UFC fights.

While women’s boxing has boomed in the last five years, MMA was one of the few places female athletes could earn as much as their male counterparts.

Some might think money is the motivation for McCann’s latest move.

Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou earned millions more than his best UFC pay day when he crossed into boxing in 2023.

But for McCann, that is not the case.

“That’s not the reason. I’m sure the money will come,” McCann says.

“I don’t think people should be in combat sport just to make money.

McCann was lounging by the pool in Florence not long after her last UFC fight when her phone rang. “You’re not done,” her manager said at the other end.

A move to boxing was something McCann had planned for years but she had to convince those around her.

She knew her mother didn’t want to her to fight any more. McCann decided before she retired from MMA to join Eddie Hearn’s ranks and when the deal was done, she broke the news to her mum.

“‘I’ve signed a 10-fight deal with Matchroom and Eddie Hearn, bye’. Put the phone down. She kept ringing me back and I wouldn’t answer the phone,” McCann says, laughing.

The rest of her family were easier. McCann’s grandmother, who hasn’t attended a fight since 2018, is even considering ending her self-imposed ringside exile.

McCann retired from MMA off the back of two defeats. “Not good enough any more,” she says as to why.

No MMA fighter since the rise of the UFC has been able to cross over and become a boxing world champion. There are fighters who went in the opposite direction, like multiple-weight boxing world champion Holly Holm, who spectacularly dethroned UFC champion Ronda Rousey.

It is a testament to how different the disciplines are. As Ngannou found out, you need far more than a knockout punch to be successful in boxing.

McCann says range has been the hardest adjustment but there is also getting the MMA patterns out of her mind.

There are no kicks or takedowns to worry about but the stance is different and working off a consistent jab is a challenge for every MMA fighter.

In training, McCann has sometimes felt the urge to lift the knee to block an incoming opponent – “muscle memory”, as she puts it.

“I’ve got to stay strong on that. Because if I get disqualified it’s my own fault,” she adds.

McCann has sought advice from various pros. Retired world champion Tony Bellew has been a constant source of encouragement.

She is confident her MMA career puts her in a better position to succeed now than if she had she stuck with boxing when she was 19.

McCann wants to be a mix of all her favourite fighters – Natasha Jonas, Miguel Cotto, Roy Jones Jr, Jane Couch, Arturo Gatti, Katie Taylor and Ricky Hatton.

She describes the boxing version of herself as “Molly McCann on Red Bull”.

Having recently built a media wall in her home, there are six holes which could potentially fit belts. Her Cage Warriors flyweight title currently sits in one.

McCann’s goal is to be world champion within eight fights. It’s not impossible. Nina Hughes won her bantamweight world title in four fights, Claressa Shields had three middleweight world titles in seven bouts.

Aiming to fight in and around 8st 10lb, McCann could find herself in the ring against super-bantamweight Ellie Scotney or bantamweight Cherneka Johnson in the future.

Nothing, however, seems to faze ‘Meatball’, who has Goodison Park in her sights for 2026.

“I don’t want to retire not feeling fulfilled,” McCann says.

“All the goals I wrote out as a kid that I wanted to achieve, this is the last one on there.