Molly McCann has spoken out on what it was like to grow up as gay in Liverpool.
The professional MMA fighter appeared on The Monday Mile, a podcast by former Team GB double Winter Olympian and TV Presenter, Aimee Fuller. Now in its seventh series, Aimee’s podcast is on a “mission to find the secrets for Monday motivation from some of the most successful public personalities of our time and other household names”.
Therefore it's hardly surprising Molly ‘Meatball’ McCann made a cameo in a recent episode where she talked about her journey to self-acceptance.
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A force to be reckoned with both in and out of the Octagon, Molly is currently competing in the women’s flyweight division of UFC putting the UK on a global stage within the sport and inspiring a generation of female athletes.
Molly, a “die-hard” Everton fan, joined Aimee on a walk around her beloved team’s hometown. In the mile-long walk, Molly shared the routines, attitudes and philosophies she has relied on to rise to the level she performs at today.
Coming from a challenging childhood, Molly told Aimee how the gym where she trains would become her safe space. Coming out as lesbian at the age of 25, Molly’s training gym also acted as a place of acceptance when she really needed it.
Discussing her difficult feelings about her sexuality and coming out, Molly said: “I couldn’t even come out by myself. I can’t take credit for it. I couldn’t even speak the words. I had to get my mum to tell everyone to be honest with you. I didn’t lead the topic as it was always really hard. I spent so much of my life feeling uncomfortable with who I was that there was a lot of stuff in there that needed working out.”
Coming out in her mid-twenties, Molly described the difficulty behind accepting her sexuality - citing the careless use of homophobic language around her.
The Scouser added: “Sometimes I would hear people say something as a joke. Even saying the sentence ‘Oh that's really gay’ as a derogatory term gets thrown around a lot and people would never think that might hurt someone's feelings. But that's the reason I never came out when I was younger, due to the language I would hear and how being gay was always associated with being weak, negative or disgusting.”
Molly believes sport for many people - particularly MMA - becomes an environment where you can accept yourself and grow in confidence.
She said: “My gym has really supported me and MMA really supported me. The fact is it's a place that is really accepting of everyone, woman, trans, gay, straight, whatever religion you are, you are accepted.
“Sport is predominantly a safe space for a majority of people and sport allowed me the space to be comfortable with who I was. I didn’t have to wear that mask anymore and then life became a little easier. You can be happy, you don’t need to be scared of how people will treat you.”
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“UFC helped me so much in trying to promote (sexuality acceptance) and during gay pride month you can have your name on your shorts and they put them in the rainbow print. I don’t lead the conversation but when asked about it I don’t shy away from it. Me and Ellis -Molly’s fiance - still receive homophobic remarks, looks and attitudes towards us still. I feel like often gay or queer people are conditioned to not be as open because people aren’t always respectful of it. It’s not always easy.”
Dropping every Monday as a bitesize piece of content, the Monday Mile shares guests' secrets on self-motivation, honest thoughts on what they struggle with and a sideways look at some of their more unusual morning habits.
Previous guests include Paddy McGuinness, Max Whitlock and Oti Mabuse amongst many others. The podcast s available to listen to on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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