"The Ultimate Fighter 8" veteran Eliot Marshall (8-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has been released from the UFC following his loss to Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC on Versus 1 this past Sunday.
Marshall blogged for MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) during his training camp for the fight.
"It is what it is, man," Marshall said today. "What do you want me to say? It sucks. What can you do? It's my own fault, and that's how it goes."
Two judges gave the former contender Matyushenko scores of 30-27 with one judge dissenting with a score a 29-28 in favor of Marshall. Overall, the bout was characterized by a distinct lack of action, and several times the crowd implored the fighters to engage.
"I could have fought better," Marshall admitted. "I could have fought more aggressively. I thought Vladdy wasn't really engaging much; it was hard for me to find my distance with him.
"But those are the kind of fights Vladdy has: he either beats the crap out of somebody or he has close decisions. I'm disappointed in myself. I didn't fight to the best of my abilities."
Nevertheless, Marshall said he was a little surprised to be cut. The loss was his first in four octagon appearances. In his most recent fight, Marshall bested Jason Brilz on points this past September at UFC 103.
"I beat Brilz, and he gets a little easier of a fight, and I get a little bit harder fight," Marshall said. "And now, I'm the one that's not there anymore, even though I fought a top-15 guy.
"I guess I should have lost the Brilz fight and fought Eric Schafer."
After a short respite with his family on the East Coast, Marshall plans to return to Denver and fight in early summer. If all goes well, he said, it won't be his last run in the UFC.
"For sure, I'm going to get back in the UFC," he said. "I'm going to collect a couple wins and I think I'm going to be back this year. I'm going to fight again as soon as possible.
"I'm going to get right back at it, train, fight hopefully in June, fight in July or August, and maybe if I get two good finishes, maybe (I can) fight (in the UFC) in September. I'm going to email Joe Silva every time I fight."
Marshall said the possibility of getting cut was just a reality of fighting in the UFC.
"They want to get rid of you, they get rid of you," Marshall said. "If they don't, they don't. That's how it goes."
Marshall emerged on "The Ultimate Fighter 8" as a member of Frank Mir's team and was defeated in the semi-finals of the show by its eventual winner, Ryan Bader.
Written by: Steven Marrocco
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Flatheadhunter33
