
Marcus
McGhee believes the biggest fight of his career halted his
momentum.
McGhee (11-2) went undefeated in his first four
Ultimate Fighting Championship outings before taking a massive
step up in competition against Petr Yan last
year. Yan earned a unanimous decision over McGhee and went on to
win the bantamweight title against Merab
Dvalishvili in his next fight.
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“The Maniac” claims the promotion has held him back since that
result, but he doesn’t know why.
Marcus McGhee questions his UFC matchmaking ahead of UFC
332
McGhee returned to the win column in June against unranked John
Yannis, who is now 1-2 in the UFC. He is scheduled to return at
UFC
332 on Oct. 3 against Bernardo
Sopai.
McGhee admits that he accepted the matchup against Sopai (13-3) to
stay active. He believes the loss to Yan led to the recent decline
in his level of opposition and that the UFC has been pushing him
back since the defeat.
In an interview ahead of his Octagon return, McGhee pointed to
Payton
Talbott co-headlining UFC 332 and Raoni
Barcelos headlining
UFC Vegas 121 on Saturday while questioning the UFC’s
matchmaking process.
“Seems like it hindered me,” McGhee told Full Send MMA. “I wouldn’t
even say [ranked opponents] are not ready to fight. I just think
that the UFC decides who they want to fight and who they don’t want
to fight. Because me and Payton Talbott are both on this card.
Raoni Barcelos fought last week. There’s plenty of guys that are
available, but they make their matchups for whatever reason they
make their matchups… But I do feel like they have been pushing me
back since [the Petr Yan] fight. So, I’m gonna keep doing my job,
keep showing up, keep winning these fights.”
Marcus
McGhee expresses frustration with the lack of activity and
admits the Petr Yan
matchup might have played a part“I feel like it’s hindered me. Talbott is on this card, Barcelos
fought last week, there’s guys available. I feel like I’ve been
pushed back since that fight” pic.twitter.com/vkZ0wLqHvG— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma)
September 29, 2026