Molly McCann opens up on darkness of heartbreaking Erin Blanchfield defeat and UFC London comeback

Molly McCann describes the taste of her heartbreaking defeat last year as having “acid” in her mouth.

But on July 22, that bitter taste could give way to something much tastier. It has taken months of self-examination and ‘grieving’ for ‘Meatball’ to mentally recover from her first round defeat to Erin Blanchfield, but now she is ready to take center stage again at London’s O2 Arena.

On the menu is Julija Stoliarenko, and McCann has talked about how she dug in to get herself back into a mental state capable of fighting again.

“The loss overall is just the hardest moment of my athletic career and it wasn’t a moment I would ever want anyone to experience, it would probably feel like losing a world title I can imagine,” she explained .

“It was just my dream, a life ambition to fight at MSG and I only get a few minutes, one punch. It probably felt a bit like Darren Till versus Tyron Woodley, but mine clearly wasn’t for the belt. Fighting in MSG and losing just wasn’t in the script.

McCann admits that she even thought about giving up MMA at one point

“I thought I was done because I was so hurt. I thought, “I’ve given three or four months of my life for that and I haven’t gotten past three minutes.” I was fucking furious and I just wondered if I could give that much. It was more than I ever gave. I have invested so heavily in my training partners and my preparation.

She added, “Nothing went wrong in camp, everything was meticulous and the fight then got out of hand. I’ve had other camps where I’ve been held together by a piece of string, but go for these unreal finishes. It took until February to want to fight again.

“Losing was like the taste of sour in my mouth, I had to learn to let it go and I’ve had viral moments in my life that were fucking unreal and then I became a viral moment.

“You have to grieve, it’s like grieving a loss. It’s not even that I was a big baby, I give my life to this, every interview, training, interaction I give everything. DC said when he lost to Jones he had to let it burn. I had to be okay with being Molly McCann and not ‘Meatball.’

It took some words of encouragement in a bar on vacation before the fan favorite started to feel like herself again.

“I went to Tenerife with my coach for a few weeks to just be a normal person,” she said.

‘It was probably the worst place to escape because it’s like little Liverpool! It’s full of Irish and Scousers. Talking to people in a bar in Tenerife just helped me believe in myself again, I went to watch the Old Firm game and I was like, “Oh yeah, I’m still somebody” just in the sense of a good person because the internet can rip that off of you I guess. It wasn’t an easy task to come back, but I dug in.”

‘Meatball’ has two incredible KO victories in London and returns on July 22

McCann knocked out Luana Carolina in March last year with a ferocious elbow

McCann, 33, faces Stoliarenko in the same venue where she delivered two incredible knockouts with deadly elbows last year.

The O2 Arena is a happy hunting ground for her and can be an intimidating bear pit for opponents in enemy territory.

With Tom Aspinall headlining Marcin Tybura and another full house expected, McCann is enjoying the chance to bounce back on home turf.

“There’s one thing the fans can rely on with me, and that’s that I’ll go down swinging and give everything I can to win,” she said.

“I like to feel the heat of the people, this atmosphere, it’s different when I run at the O2 than other fighters. It’s a bit of a party and I’m relying on them in a fun way to push me through.”

Jai Herbert, Paul Craig, Lerone Murphy and Nathaniel Wood are among the other Brits confirmed to be in action so far, with more to come in the coming weeks.

McCann’s partner in crime, Paddy Pimblett, will not compete as he is still recovering from his terrible ankle injury.

McCann shared the stage twice with Paddy Pimblett in London last year, but ‘The Baddy’ is injured and will miss the July 22 event.

But ‘Meatball’ revealed that he is making good progress and is desperate to silence the naysayers who criticized his last fight, a win against Jared Gordon that many felt should have gone the other way.

‘Paddy had his protective boot off, he’s coming to S&C, he’s just hungry. His performance against Gordon wasn’t what he wanted, he just wants to prove who he is.

“He had a sore foot, but none of us realized how bad the injury was until after the fight. He’s had a full ankle reconstruction of his ligaments, so that’s tough.

“I think it will be another few weeks before he can wear things. You can imagine after a fight you win and then there comes a big check on the fight… Paddy lives to silence people, I believe you will see a different animal in him when he next time fight.’

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: ASPINALL vs. TYBURA tickets go on sale Friday 26th May at 10am BST via AXS and Ticketmaster