Las Vegas, NV — No, Molly McCann is not retiring from MMA.
Although “Meatball” stripped off her gloves and left them in the octagon following UFC Vegas 18, her intention was not to signal the end of her career. Instead, it was to honor her left father.
“It was a lot of frustration that I didn’t get to show what I wanted to show, and how hard we’ve worked since the Taila [Santos] fight. And how close the jiu-jitsu’s finally got to submitting a black belt,” said McCann, making a brief appearance during the UFC 258 media day this week. “It was just a lot of frustration, and I wanted to honor me dad’s memory in some way. I didn’t really think too much about what I was doing.”
As she later put it, “there’s too much fight in the old dog yet.”
McCann has stuck around Las Vegas following her loss to Lara Procópio on Feb. 6 to support another former opponent, Gillian Robertson.
“Just before the fight happened, I messaged Gillian [Robertson] and I was like ‘do you want me to help you on fight week?’ And it’s probably the best thing I could have ever done, because she’s the one who changed my whole career,” said McCann. “She’s the best and worst thing that ever happened to me, was Gillian Robertson.”
For those not aware, the pair faced off inside the octagon in 2018, in McCann’s debut for the UFC. She lost the fight, ending up submitted by Robertson in the second round. But the Brit would bounce back with three straight victories.
“Because of her, I’m still here,” she stated. The loss certainly inspired her to be a better fighter. But McCann’s statement can be taken another way: it’s because of Robertson that she’s still in Las Vegas this week, dealing with the fallout from her loss. Then again, maybe it wasn’t just Robertson that kept her in the Nevada city. “You wouldn’t go home if you’ve never been to Vegas before, would you?”
