Molly McCann taking everything in stride and ready to show 'it's my time' at UFC London

As Molly McCann gets set for what she describes “one of the biggest Fight Night cards there’s possibly ever been”, in her homeland, at a sold-out O2 Arena this weekend, she would be forgiven for getting caught up in the emotion of it all.

Nothing of the sort.

“You’ve seen me before at this time and there’s a lot of energy, a lot going on,” McCann tells The National from her hotel room ahead of Sunday morning's UFC London. “And this time I’m just chill, I’m not putting pressure on myself. I’m going in here to enjoy myself and to win.

“This calm comes from a place of hard work. I just know where I’m at the minute and I know what I’ve given until right now. So I’m good.”

An accomplished flyweight, McCann has been here before, of sorts. In the last UFC London, in March 2019, the Liverpool native defeated Priscila Cachoeira via unanimous decision to become the first Englishwoman to triumph in the UFC.

Yet she isn't keen to reminisce about the past. On Sunday, McCann takes on Brazil's Luana Carolina, part of a stacked card that features teammates, friends and a sizeable crop of the top talent in British MMA.

“I haven’t had a feeling quite like [2019] just because of the storyline attached to the win,” she says. “There’ll never be another first English female win in the UFC, so I’m never getting that moment back again. This is what you dream of, these are the kind of mornings that get you up in the morning when it’s Storm Eunice.

“The weather’s been horrible for this camp and the body’s been sore, and when it’s get tough and you just realise, 'Why are I am doing this?' And then that feeling carries you through those sessions.

“I don’t sit and dwell. You’re as good as your next performance. Nothing in the past - that’s