Molly McCann: I'm a scouse female gay athlete who supports Everton it's like my cards are marked already'

"I give my hidings and I take my hidings and so they have seen me with snapped ligaments in my knee, broken feet, broken toes, broken hands, stitches, broken legs, Molly McCann says of the damage she has endured as a fighter and the impact it has had on her mum and her partner, Fran Parman. It's traumatic for Fran and even more traumatic for my mum. I'm 35 and I've been in the gym since I was 12."

"I had my first fight at 16. I've spent most of my life fighting. McCann boxed as a teenager and she won an ABA title. But, at a time when women's boxing was still undermined, she turned to mixed martial arts and eventually became the most successful female British fighter in the UFC. McCann retired in March after 14 savage UFC bouts; but, within days, she became a professional boxer."

"At home in Liverpool the rigours of boxing are etched into McCann's face. She has just finished another gruelling training session while locked deep within a weight cut. McCann makes me smile and wince when she opens the fridge door to reveal a padlock on the container which stores the tastier food that only Parman can enjoy. But she believes her partner and her mum have to absorb the most strain before she fights Ebonie Cotton at the NEC in Birmingham."

Molly McCann has sustained severe injuries over a lifelong fighting career, including snapped ligaments, broken feet, toes, hands, stitches and broken legs, and those wounds have traumatized her mother and partner Fran Parman. She began training at 12 and fought first at 16, winning an ABA boxing title as a teenager before switching to mixed martial arts when women's boxing remained undermined. She became the most successful female British UFC fighter, retired in March after 14 UFC bouts, and promptly turned professional in boxing. She continues intense training and weight cuts ahead of her boxing contest with Ebonie Cotton.

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