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MarQuel Mederos | Ready To Perform
Lightweight MarQuel Mederos Looks To Silence The Critics And Make It Two Wins In A Row As He Takes On Austin Hubbard At UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Erceg on Saturday, March 29th.
Short notice? No problem. High altitude? No problem. Getting a decision win over Austin Hubbard?
Now that would be a problem for lightweight prospect MarQuel Mederos, whose intentions for his Saturday night bout with the lightweight veteran aren’t just to win, but to halt the Illinois native.
“I'm putting so much emphasis on going out there and putting on a performance, because in this game it doesn't do you any justice to eke out decision victories, even if it is a dominant decision. Nobody cares. They want finishes. So Austin's never been finished (by KO or TKO), and I want to be the only guy to finish him. That's something that I'm emphasizing and making note of, andI’ll tell the crowd after because I do hear those little comments, especially after my last performance, like, ‘Is he even supposed to be in the UFC?’ So I feel like the best way to prove that is some action. Talking is cool, and especially nowadays, a lot of these dudes love to talk, but a couple good old-fashioned ass whuppings definitely put the word out there.”
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The word was out on the Texan in late 2023, when he earned a UFC contract with a first-round knockout of Issa Isakov on season seven of Dana White’s Contender Series. Raw, but talented, Mederos was expected to make noise in the UFC, and when he made that walk for the first time in February of last year, a close and hard-fought win over Landon Quinones, he got what he needed: a victory and three tough rounds in the big show. But like he said, when six of your previous eight pro wins are by knockout, anything less than that is deemed a disappointment when it really shouldn’t be. But Mederos took his notes, heard the chatter (and didn’t pay it much mind), and he’s intent on making sure he takes matters into his own hands the second time around, which comes after fights with Nazim Sadykhov and Evan Elder fell by the wayside.
“I don't feel as if anything in the external can affect your internal,” he said. “I feel like those are weak-minded people. If somebody else's opinion can affect you that much that it's changing how you feel about yourself, I think that's your own problem. But I definitely do want to go make a statement.”
When he does step into the Octagon for the first time in over a year, he’ll do so with a new squad in his corner, as he left Colorado’s high altitude and the Factory X team for the heat of Glendale, Arizona, home to the MMA Lab.
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“The Lab was just a good fit,” said Mederos. “I liked the environment, I like all the different bodies, and I think, also, that I got so comfortable at Factory X. I grew up in that gym. You learn the bodies, I had so much respect, and everything was kind of comfortable, and I feel that when you get a little comfort, you start to lose that growth. And I found some uncomfortability here at The Lab and I think it's helped to push my game, and I plan to show that on Saturday night, for sure.”
When I caught up to Mederos, it was Monday of fight week and he was getting ready to head to Mexico City. There was nothing to pick up in the way of nerves, either about the fight, the flight or fighting 7,349 feet above sea level. In short, the 28-year-old was just happy to be days away from a fight after a long year on the sidelines.
“Man, life was definitely hitting my ass with some Mike Tyson uppercuts,” he said. “A lot of stuff happened.”
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Some bad, like cellulitis in his hand, and some great, like the birth of his second child, a son. And though he wasn’t thrilled with the time away, he’s back this weekend and chasing after something more than just a win.
“I don't think the ‘it’s a win, I'll take it’ mentality is a mentality that gets you to the top,” Mederos said. “But it's a balance. I don't think you get too overzealous about a victory, but I don't think you get too down on yourself to where you're not comprehending the fact that you are getting those wins. So I look at it (the Quinones fight) as a lesson. You take the positives from it, which is the win, and then you take the lessons from it that you're learning, and you flip those the next time. I feel like a tendency that most guys have in this game is if it’s winning, it's working. And I don't always think that's the case. I think you find a way to win and then you want to find a way to excel, because I don't think the goal should ever be just to win. It should be to dominate. And then if you're winning in the process, we love it.”
UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Erceg took place live from Arena CDMX in Mexico City on March 29, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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