Whilst the performance was somewhat spoiled due to a rather disastrous weight cut, one of many at UFC Vegas 95 this weekend, Chepe Mariscal continues to work his way through the outskirts of the featherweight division.
Featherweight hopeful Chepe Mariscal is 3-0 as an underdog in the UFC and now 1-0 as the favorite, improving his already-impressive winning streak to seven last night with a back-and-forth war with veteran Damon Jackson.
Chepe Mariscal earns hard-fought decision victory at UFC Vegas 95
The ‘Machine Gun’ continues to fire on all cylinders; mixing in offensive grappling skills with his powerful striking to out-land and out-point Jackson over the course of 15 hard minutes in Las Vegas.
However, Mariscal’s hand was raised with the dark cloud of a rather disastrous weight cut hanging over his head; an issue he was quick to address when speaking to Michael Bisping in the octagon.
“It sucked because I didn’t make the weight, I’m a very responsible MMA fighter [and] I definitely wanted to show the UFC that I’m really trying to bust my butt to make weight… Honestly, because of embarrassment and stuff, I was like ‘Man, I don’t even know if I want to go fight’.
“I respect Damon Jackson and his corner so much, that kind of hesitated me a little [in] taking the fight,” he acknowledged, with the victory in Las Vegas now his fourth to date in the UFC.
Jon Anik hails ‘must-see TV’ Mariscal as Chepe opens up on weight miss
The unanimous decision win over Jackson is easily Mariscal’s biggest win so far in the promotion, with fans and fighters alike taking to social media in its aftermath to praise Mariscal for the performance.
Responding to a post claiming that the ‘Machine Gun’ was going to be a serious problem for fellow featherweights to contend with, UFC commentator Jon Anik wrote: “100%, so well coached and coachable, too.
“They did a great job in the corner and seemingly he did everything they asked him to do. Scrambles were sick. Guy fights urgently and offensively at all times. Must-see TV that Mariscal…”
Yet the performance, however great it was, had a frustrating Asterix next to it as Mariscal weighed in on Friday at 149.5lbs – well above the featherweight limit – as Anik followed up by noting: “Terrible cut, no excuses… but as a fighter, Chepe is a beast.”
That sentiment was echoed by veteran MMA journalist John Morgan, who posted on X: “Marred by the weight miss, of course, but an incredible performance from Chepe Mariscal against an opponent who refused to quit.”
Luckily, it appears that Mariscal knows exactly what he needs to do in order to rectify his error and to make sure that such a dramatic weight miss never happens again.
“Right now, I just want to get some stuff settled for my weight cut,” he told the UFC News crew regarding what’s next, sharing how he wants to “go see a specialist for all that stuff” before he returns to action.
At the post-fight press conference, Mariscal would detail the extent of his ‘embarrassment’ over the whole situation as his attention turned to the next stage in his fledgling UFC career.
“We kind of calculated the weight cut wrong, especially with the Vegas heat and kind of shot my body – honestly, I was so embarrassed at it I was probably going to throw the fight… That’s why I kind of felt bummed and didn’t want to embarrass myself, I didn’t even want to come to the arena.
“If I can get everything locked in physically with the weight cut stuff and really put a dial on that… If I fix these little things, I know we can do a lot of things [at 145].”
Whilst Mariscal did mention Dan Ige’s name as a potential next opponent, the 17-6 contender noted that he just wants to keep fighting and keep climbing the featherweight ladder, once the weight cuts are under control.
“There’s not a specific opponent [I want next], I just want to fight everybody. I’m not scared of anybody in the featherweight division, I’m just ready to come in here and own whoever is in my way.”