UFC fighter Molly McCann is tempted to challenge ESPN star Stephen A. Smith to a fist-fight in a parking lot

• Molly McCann responded to Stephen A. Smith’s controversial comment on women fighting.
• The British UFC striker fights a flyweight match against Lara Procopio on Saturday.
• McCann told Insider that once she beats Procopio, she’s going to call out Smith.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

UFC fighter Molly McCann said she’s going to call-out the ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith when she’s in the middle of the Octagon after her next match.

The British striker fights a Brazilian grappler called Lara Procopio at the UFC Fight Night show, which takes place behind-closed-doors at the UFC-owned Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The ESPN presenter said earlier this week that he doesn’t like the thought of women hitting each other in the face, and the incendiary comments drew condemnation from the MMA community.

“How can you say that when you’re on such a platform?” McCann said in a conversation with Insider from her hotel room in Las Vegas this week, just days before her flyweight fight.

“Could you imagine Serena Williams watching that? It’s not just fighters he’ll have offended. It’s every sportswoman and maybe every sportsman.”

McCann said some people may be conditioned to seeing "women get beat up" as unacceptable.

"They might not view the technical rulings, a slip, a backhand if you break that person's nose … it's not about breaking a person's nose, it's about the right shot selection at the right time. And how hard that is to do when you're fighting under lights."

"Stephen Smith needs to give his head a wobble," McCann joked. "When I win on Saturday, I'm going to say something on the microphone: 'I'll see you in the car park!'"

McCann said 2020 was the year women in sport finally got 'respect'

There were many highlight moments for women in sport throughout last year, McCann said, who marveled at the way the US Women's National Team (USWNT) campaigned for equal pay.

US Soccer said at the beginning of 2020 that unequal pay for women was fair because "men are bigger, stronger, faster," before the USWNT sued for $67 million, as previously reported by Insider's Meredith Cash.

The team's stars then began wearing their uniforms inside-out as a means of protest against what the badge stood for at the time.

"The women's team took a stand against the federation," said McCann. "Wear tops inside out and not representing the badge until there's equal pay.

"I'm not a feminist in terms of I hate men, but I do like equality just like any minority standing up in a racial discussion or religious conversation.

It wasn't just the USWNT that inspired McCann in 2020 - she also reveled in the "respect" female fighters got.

"But I think women in sport got a lot of respect last year. In combat sport, there was the Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk fight, in boxing Katie Taylor did big things, and Terri Harper and Natasha Jonas had a fight of the year.

"There was a generation before me that got a go at being a professional. They gave the time and effort but were never really given the money.

"They knocked on the door, but me and the generation now are the ones who, I wouldn't say trail-blaze, but we're knocking the door down for the younger generation to reap the rewards of the adversity that we faced."

McCann finished by reiterating that she couldn't believe Smith said what he said with the platform he has. "Those are the kind of comments you wouldn't scream when you're on top of a mountain on your own!

"But it's up to us though to just keep doing what we're doing."

What McCann does best is fight and she fights Saturday

McCann enters the Procopio bout coming off a loss, having been out-pointed by Talia Santos on Fight Island in her sole bout since the pandemic began.

It is territory she's successfully navigated before, having rebounded from her only two defeats in her pro MMA career.

"Certain people can just take a loss, run with it, and it doesn't affect them," McCann said.

"In MMA, when grapplers lose, it's easy for them to bounce-back because they're so used to competing in jiu-jitsu tournaments every week."

But McCann is not a grappler by trade. She's a striker and is not used to losses, she said.

"For strikers, when they lose, it's a really big deal because we're not used to losing as much," something she said inspires her to bounce back.

"When I lose, I tend to go to a darker place and I draw something deep within and get more power from it. I never want to feel that pain again.

"History is on my side because when I've lost before, I come back.

McCann said that after her Fight Island defeat, she asked a photographer to take a picture of her and her team to spur her on for her next bout.

"I said I wanted to remember how I never want to feel again, and there's been a few times in this camp where I've looked at that picture and it spurred me on when the days are cold, I'm injured, but I still have to train with studs."

McCann said the pre-bout experience on Fight Island was once-in-a-lifetime because of the bubble experience, leisure activities, and the luxury hotel that fighters and UFC executives stayed in.

"When you write this down, it might look quite bad … but [the loss] was like a PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder].

"My face was bad, I had a broken nose, and I had red eyes because I was crying. There's just a lot of emotion in that picture.

"And it takes you back to that moment of 'never again.' I never give up in a fight, I fight to the last second, but that picture does make me want to dig down a little deeper and push a little bit more."

This is not a typical fight week

Though McCann is not experiencing a typical fight week, she is relishing being in Las Vegas to compete.

It is the dream for many combat athletes to become the best competitor in their city, region, or country, and get the fight of a lifetime in the fight capital of the world.

Once there, they might cruise down the Las Vegas strip. Before long, they'll start seeing their name in lights everywhere they look.

McCann, though, is not getting that because the world is in lockdown and the UFC operates is running shows behind-closed-doors, rather than at the state-of-the-art T-Mobile Arena like it did pre-pandemic.

She's locked away in her hotel room, cutting weight, waiting for the big moment. Rarely, she'll make her way to another building within the UFC's safety zone like the Performance Institute.

"Fighting is lonely as it is, even though you have your team around you," she said. "You're still the one physically and mentally feeling things.

"[The pandemic-induced quarantine] does take some time getting used to … I don't think I'll call it enjoyable.

"There are little victories like going to the supermarket for an hour," she laughed.

"We're from Liverpool, used to Tesco and Asda [two British grocery chains], and we come out of Whole Foods here … I was looking for junk food after the fight, asking my coach where the f--- the Cheetos are, as everything was so healthy. I couldn't even get a chocolate bar. I literally bought hummus."

Regardless, when she's back in the room, she thinks back to where she's come from, and where she is right now.

"When you put it into context, we're just off the Vegas strip, in the middle of a pandemic, about to go and fight here.

"I used to fight in working men's clubs for free, and now I'm fighting in Las Vegas for money.

"You could sit there, thinking, 'For f---- sake, I'm sitting in this room again.' But when you put it in context, it's quite amazing."

As far as Procopio goes, McCann said she's not looking past her. She didn't even want to get drawn into her aspirations for the year, focusing only on her weekend opponent.

"When you get into the UFC, you're an all-rounder with a good [fighting] discipline. And her discipline is grappling so her game-plan will be based around that just like mine is based around striking.

"We've taken that into consideration. You're going to try and beat me, you're going to try and take me down. She's a good fighter, from Jose Aldo's gym, so I'm expecting a more educated approach to the fight."

Procopio has a pro MMA record of six wins (one knockout, two submissions, and three decisions) against one loss.

That one defeat came in her sole UFC fight to date in 2019 against Karol Rosa.

"I think [her] nerves will kick in," McCann said.

"I've been where she's been. I lost on my debut and if you lose twice you tend to be cut, and she's coming off a drugs ban as well, so I presume if she lost, she might get cut."

Procopio was banned for six months after a failed drug test in February 2020.

"She's fighting for her career, and I'm doing the same."

McCann expects to win, in style, and though she is thinking of no future opponents right now, Stephen A. Smith of all people should probably run and hide.

Unless he wants a fight in a Vegas parking lot.