‘I Was Probably Going To Throw The Fight’

Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC

“Machine Gun” took responsibility.

Chepe Mariscal scored a big win at UFC Vegas 95 last night (Sat., Aug. 10, 2024) when he dominated Damon Jackson to win a unanimous decision from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Mariscal notched two 30-25 scorecards.

The big storyline leading into the fight was Mariscal’s Friday weight miss. The 31-year-old came in 3.5 lbs overweight.

Chepe Mariscal misses weight: 149 lbs pic.twitter.com/z6cxQ6onDK

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) August 9, 2024

During the UFC Vegas 95 post-fight interview (watch here), he took full responsibility for the botched weight cut and even revealed he didn’t want to fight.

“I just kind of calculated the weight cut wrong, especially with the Vegas heat and everything- it kind of shot my body,” Mariscal told the media. “Honestly, I was so embarrassed that I was probably going to throw the fight because I have so much respect for the people that lose the weight, do the time, do everything else. I felt bummed and didn’t want to, like, embarrass myself. I didn’t even want to come to the arena and stuff like that. But my corner kept me in line and was like, ‘Hey, man, we got to do what we can. If they don’t want to fight, that’s fine, but we’re going to try to do what we can,’ and that’s what we did. [Damon] got a little extra percentage on that, and I was willing to give up the pay whatever, and they were down to fight, and we just said yes, and we went out there and performed.”

While it was refreshing to hear a fighter actually take responsibility for a weight miss and feel bad about it, the fact of the matter is he failed part of his job.

Mariscal is now 4-0 inside UFC and has set himself up for a big fight in his next outing. Or UFC will punish him and have him fight a killer.

For more UFC Vegas 95 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.