Written by Marcus McGhee | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Marcus McGhee was getting a impatient waiting for a fight after his last appearance this past November, but he was definitely shocked when the UFC came calling with an offer for him to face former bantamweight champion Petr Yan.
Hhe loved the matchup and the opportunity to take a huge step forward in the division but McGhee knows so many fighters in the upper echelon of the rankings rarely want to face someone below them. Based on the current UFC rankings, McGhee was almost 10 spots behind Yan but from his understanding, the Russian never waffled or tried to ask the UFC to get him a different opponent.
“Excited but also surprised,” McGhee told MMA Fighting about his reaction to receiving the offer to fight Yan at UFC Abu Dhabi. “It definitely wasn’t a name that I thought I was going to get but then slowly but surely, it started seeming like yeah, that actually made a lot of sense. When they hit me up, I was a little ready for it but was still a little surprised.
“Honestly, [I] was super respectful for him anyways because of what he’s done anyway, but he’s always kind of been that guy that’s just out there to fight. He loves to do what he does and he always shows up. Definitely had a lot of respect for him to do that as well. It was surprising to me that I didn’t hear any back and forth on that either. There’s a bunch of guys that might have been willing to take that fight but nothing else came to fruition.”
McGhee thinks the UFC rankings cause as many problems as they solve because oftentimes lower ranked fighters or athletes sitting outside the top 15 can’t get anyone above them to accept a fight. It’s a frustration felt by fighters across every division, but McGhee was impressed Yan didn’t seem to blink when the UFC matched them together.
On the surface, McGhee has proven himself with a perfect 5-0 record in the UFC including four wins by knockout or submission, but that still doesn’t guarantee he’ll get a bigger named opponent or someone ranked ahead of him. Matchups like he got against Yan aren’t exactly typical, but McGhee hopes this bout along with recent fights where contenders such as Cory Sandhagen accepted a lower ranked but highly touted prospect like Umar Nurmagomedov as an opponent become more regular.
“I think that’s why I haven’t fought since November,” McGhee said about the rankings. “The only name that I’ve gotten is Petr Yan. A guy that’s willing to go down and fight me. I definitely think that’s a problem in the rankings they’ve had for sure. I think that it will start to loosen up again as these new guys start to make their way up to the top. I think the game is evolving a little bit, too. Looking at it from that standpoint, I do think that things are starting to open up in that atmosphere.”
As happy as he was to get Yan as an opponent with an opportunity to get that much closer to a title shot with a win, McGhee isn’t getting lost in the details.
Instead, he’s putting his full focus on winning because there’s no reason to celebrate just getting the Yan fight if he ultimately walks away a loser.
“I appreciate the rankings and all the stuff that comes with that but I don’t care that stuff,” McGhee said. “That’s for everybody outside the sport to validate us or not validate us. I don’t like to live off that stuff.
“I’m coming in there to fight another man who’s done great things on this planet. I’m going to go in there and look to do a great thing against that man. For me, that’s been the plan of attack. I’m not just showing up to be a body. I’m showing up to take Petr Yan out. I absolutely believe that with all my heart that if he lets me touch his chin, touch his body, he lets me touch him in any vital organ, any vital anything, yes, I can end his night.”
If he’s successful on Saturday, McGhee sees bigger and better things awaiting him in the future, but can’t get lost thinking about that without getting through Yan first.
He understands he’s one of only a few bantamweights that could potentially get in a position to face reigning champion Merab Dvalishvili considering Dvalishvili has already ran through most of the top fighters at 135 pounds including Yan.
McGhee definitely wants that opportunity, but he’s not losing sight of what’s most important and that’s staying active and winning fights.
“I know it opens up those types of doors as well,” McGhee said about a potential title shot. “I don’t overthink these things or get too deep into them. But who would have thought I’d be fighting Petr Yan? So what’s the chances of me fighting Merab next? I’m not going to go out here and say it’s not going to happen. I go out here and do what I’m supposed to do and do what I believe I can do against a guy like Petr Yan, it will open up all those doors.
“I won’t be banging on the door for anything like that either. I’ll be looking at what the UFC has for me and again, I don’t want to be one of those guys who’s not willing to fight downward anyways. For me in particular, I’ll just be looking to fight again and keep on pushing it. If it’s Merab, great. If it’s a title, great. We’ll just keep on moving whatever God’s plan is.”