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Mark Magsayo Wants To Win, And Look Good Doing It | Zuffa Boxing 05
Filipino Former World Champion Lands In Zuffa Boxing Looking To Make A Statement In His New Weight Class
Former featherweight world champion Mark Magsayo has reached the mountaintop before. Now he’s ready to take on an even bigger challenge.
The 30-year-old from Tagbilaran City in Bohol, Philippines, previously held world championship gold at featherweight for a sanctioning body. But now he’s joined Zuffa Boxing, where he plans to become the organization’s inaugural lightweight champion.
It means a nine-pound jump up in weight as he joins Zuffa Boxing’s 135-pound division, but it’s a move he’s excited to make as he looks to capture a world title in a second weight class.
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“Fighting for Zuffa is a big platform for me,” Magsayo told UFC.com.
“It’s on Paramount+. It’s a big platform for me, because I’m in my prime, and I’m ready to shock the world and show the world that I'm ready at this weight.”
Magsayo’s boxing journey started through necessity. He needed a way to earn money to help provide for his family. As he put it, “I started boxing because of poverty.”
He made his professional debut at the age of 17 in a featherweight bout in Cebu City, Philippines, in May 2013 and immediately experienced the euphoria of a stoppage win as he dropped his opponent twice en route to a first-round KO victory.
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“My first pro fight, I was so excited for everything!” he recalled.
“I was so excited, and I won by knockout!”
That excitement of his knockout is still with him more than a decade on, but he’s added plenty more euphoric moments since then. Eighteen of his 28 career wins have come by stoppage, and he prides himself on being a fan-friendly fighter who delivers excitement for the people who pay their hard-earned money to watch him fight. It’s something he’s keen to carry into his Zuffa Boxing career as he looks to introduce himself to a new audience of boxing fans, starting this weekend.
“I'm an entertaining fighter,” he stated.
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“I’m going to show them what I’m capable of in boxing, and I’m ready to show my talent.”
Magsayo’s highest-profile victory so far came when he captured the featherweight world title by dethroning long-reigning champion Gary Allen Russell Jr via majority decision in Atlantic City to capture featherweight gold back in 2022. Unfortunately, that title reign was abruptly halted by Rey Vargas in his next fight, and his subsequent attempt to capture interim gold ended in a decision loss to Brandon Figueiroa in Ontario.
Since then, Magsayo has returned to the form that earned him the nickname “Magnifico”. He bounced back to form with a knockout of Isaac Avelar, then dropped Eduardo Ramirez en route to a landslide decision win on the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas card at the MGM Grand Garden in 2024.
A second-round knockout of Bryan Mercedo followed, with another dominant decision win in Vegas – this time over Jorge Mata on the Pacquiao-Mario Barrios card at the MGM Grand – taking his active win streak to four as he heads into Sunday night’s co-main event against New York-based Irishman Feargal McCrory.
It’ll only be the second time Magsayo has officially competed at lightweight, but there’s early evidence to suggest that he could be even more successful at 135 pounds than he was at 126.
Magsayo has only weighed in at over 130 pounds twice in his pro career, and both of those fights ended in knockout victories. Now he plans to put on another crowd-pleasing performance as he looks to make a statement to the rest of the Zuffa Boxing lightweight division on Sunday night.
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“I hope they are happy after they watch my fight, because my style is suited to people who want to be entertained,” he said
“They want entertainment (and) they want an entertaining fight, so I need to show them that.
“I’m in my prime right now, and I’m gonna show them that I’m the best at this weight.”
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