Once upon a time, the venue was a happy hunting ground for the Liverpudlian and in May 2018, she made her UFC debut there against Gillian Robertson.

Things didn't go to plan. Robertson dominated McCann on the ground and eventually caught her in a rear naked choke. Rather than tap out, McCann went to sleep.

McCann went on to become a crowd favourite during her 14-fight UFC career but never fought in her hometown again.

The 35-year-old junior featherweight gets her chance this weekend when she boxes Ashleigh Johnson (3-3) over eight rounds, live on DAZN.

McCann (3-0, 1 KO) spends her life in the shadow of the arena. Both her gym - No Limits - and the Italian kitchen and deli she owns are situated just a stone's throw away from the docks where the M&S Bank sits.

The 35-year-old can't count the number of times she has passed it since her last appearance there.

"Thousands. Every run that I do on my green zone I run past it. As mad as it sounds, I always feel like when I can draw energy from running along the water and running up around Sefton Park and back because my gym is on the docks," she told The Ring.

"I've always thought about going back as a boxer. Here we are."

During her exciting MMA career, McCann forged a reputation as an aggressive brawler with a highlight reel full of toe-to-toe exchanges and spinning elbow knockouts.

Many may have expected 'Meatball' to bounce into professional boxing and wreak instant havoc but after scoring a stoppage on her debut, she has found it a little harder to make an impression. As well as having less weapons at her disposal, she's also had to get used to bigger gloves, shorter rounds and more defensively minded opponents.

McCann has quickly realised that if she is to start accumulating similarly memorable moments in the boxing ring, she will need to put a velvet glove on her iron fist.

"I think what I've been signed for and what I am is that alehouse dig, bullish, brutish come forward but I think if I start to try and box more, the finishes might present themselves," she said.

"In MMA you can half chase it if you don't get clipped. It's cleaner knockouts because you've got the little gloves on. You can knee, kick, elbow. In boxing you've got to be more precise and I think that's the last bit to hone in and to sharpen up."

McCann's long-awaited M&S Bank Arena return will cause expectations to ramp back up again this weekend but she is determined not to get carried away and waste months worth of training and drilling by wading into a brawl.

"It's a different IQ from MMA. I feel like the last bit for me is tempo change and not looking for the knockout," she said.

"I am the fighter that fights. You have boxers, fighters and sometimes you have like fighter-boxers and I think I'm starting to gear towards becoming a fighter-boxer. This next fight, it's imperative that I box and fight at the right times if I need to. Hand on heart, I want to go in and just live off the jab, counter and work angles.

"Sometimes I'm like that shark in Finding Nemo. Once I smell blood, that's what I'm like so it's recognising boxing isn't MMA."