Athletes
Francis Marshall Finally Knows He Belongs
Four Fights Into His UFC Career And Fresh Off A Win, Francis Marshall Finally Gained The Confidence He Needs To Succeed In The UFC
They let Francis Marshall back in New Jersey this week, even though he left the Garden State for Florida nearly a year ago.
That’s okay, he earned his return trip for a week after a short notice win over Dennis Buzukja last weekend, and as he makes it clear, he didn’t abandon his home state; he just needed some new looks, and American Top Team fit the bill.
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“(UFC vet and coach) Kurt (Pellegrino) had the connection with American Top Team from when he was fighting,” said Marshall. “He trained there, so he made a phone call and talked to the guys there and got me in for a week to see how it was, see how the fit was, and the first week I went, I loved it and felt great. So they accepted me in and I made that home.”
At first, Marshall would go down to South Florida for a week every month, then return to Jersey, but in late-June, he made the permanent move, and after a lot of full-time work with his new squad, he was itching to get into a fight, and when Danny Silva was forced out of the bout with Buzukja, Marshall put his hand up and got in to a nice little scrap with the New Yorker. When the dust settled, Marshall pulled off a split decision victory, and though it would have been nice for Marshall to bounce back from his August 2023 loss to Isaac Dulgarian with a quick win, after a year on the sidelines, getting three hard rounds in did more good than harm.
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“All three rounds felt great,” said Marshall. “Anytime you're in there fighting, it feels great. Yeah, it would've been nice to put him away in the second when I dropped him - I thought that was going to be it - but to get the 15 minutes back and the experience back in there after a year is almost equivalent to two fights with quick finishes. So, it was just getting back in there, getting the time in the Octagon and getting settled back in.”
Consider the settling complete. Now the 25-year-old wants to get back to a consistent – and busy – schedule.
“I'm ready to go back in,” said Marshall, who will take a short-notice opportunity if one comes, but if not, he’s looking for a fall return.
“I'm going to try for November, or if not November, I know that card in Tampa would be pretty cool to fight on. I know that's December 14th, last one of the year, so that would be ideal for me, too.”
A Jersey kid in the Garden in November, or a newly minted Floridian in Tampa. Not a bad plan of attack for a fighter who can call himself a UFC vet now that he has four trips to the Octagon under his belt. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing after his 2022 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, but with his 2-2 record have come plenty of lessons about competing on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I think the jump (from the regional scene) is maybe not so much size and speed and strength and stuff like that; I think the jump is more so Fight IQ, experience and mentality. You're not getting guys who start getting beat up and then roll over and just accept the position or accept the finish because they don't want to get too banged up and have to go back to work on Monday. Everybody's tough. Everybody's there to fight. Everybody wants to win just as bad as the guy across from them. So I think that's the biggest part.”
And two years since that contract-winning effort against Connor Matthews, Marshall belongs. And he knows it…though that realization didn’t come as soon as you might expect.
“Honestly, probably not until maybe six months ago,” he admits. “I really started thinking it and believing it because there's always that doubt in your head that's like, am I good enough to be here? Do I really deserve it? I'm young. I only had a 5-0 record when I got on Contender Series. Do I really deserve it? And then about maybe six months ago, being down with American Top Team and training with those guys who are top contenders in the world and who are really good guys that I'm able to hang with and score on and win some rounds here and there, that helped me mentally tell myself that, yeah, I am good. I do belong here and I'm going to be great.”
