UFC debutant Isaac Dulgarian has detailed his advantages over Francis Marshall ahead of their fight at UFC Vegas 78 on Saturday.
Dulgarian meets Marshall in a featherweight clash after his first scheduled UFC fight fell through due to injury. ‘The Midwest Choppa’ was set to face Dan Argueta but a torn LCL removed him from the bout.
The 27-year-old trains out of Factory X in Colorado with a 5-0 record and a 100% finish rate. In an exclusive interview with Combat Sports UK, he revealed where he believes his advantages lie over the former Dana White’s Contender Series alumni.
He said: “I think my advantages are: my speed, I feel like I’m gonna be just as strong as him in there, and just my grappling base.
“I feel like I’m a much better grappler, technically, than him so as long as I can deal with the strength and aggressiveness from him, I think it’s gonna be a good night for me.
“His only way to win is to come and be aggressive and hope to catch me with the right hand, look for the home run and if that doesn’t go his way, I think it’s gonna be a good night for me.”
Dulgarian Targeting Bantamweight Move in 2024, Has an Opponent in Mind For Debut
Dulgarian has been a featherweight throughout his whole career, amateur and pro, but the former FAC champion is now targeting a move down to 135 next year.
He detailed the reasons why in his interview with CSUK:
He said: “I think I’m strong enough and athletic enough to compete with them at 145, it’s just when I get into the top 10, top 15, I sort of have a frame issue. I’m only 5’ 7” and I’m not the biggest guy, I have an easy cut to make 145 but that also lies an advantage for me as well.
“So, we’re gonna kinda play it by ear and see what I can do, I got tested at the PI a couple of months ago – they said it is possible it’s just gonna be one of them tough weight cuts.
“I think at 135, those guys are more my size, I wish everyone didn’t cut as much weight as they did because most of them should be 145ers as well. But, it is what it is, that’s the game we play.”
When he eventually makes the drop, Dulgarian has an opponent in mind that he would like to face.
He stated: “I would love to get to run it back with Dan [Argueta]. I’d love to get that fight back. We tried to get him to reschedule it but he said he wanted to go down to ‘35.
“We probably walk around at the same weight, I’ve been cutting weight since I was 12 years old, man, I can compete with anyone that’s anywhere near my size so I don’t see a point in going down there until I absolutely have to.”
Isaac Dulgarian Full Exclusive Interview
You can watch the full interview with Dulgarian below:
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Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
