Las Vegas, NV — Julian Marquez made a successful return to action at UFC 258, submitting Maki Pitolo after months on the sidelines. And “The Cuban Missile Crisis” made the most of his moment in the spotlight afterward.
While everyone else was busy calling out opponents, from Belal Muhammad (calling out Li Jingliang) to Kamaru Usman (oddly opting to call for another fight with Jorge Masvidal), Marquez (8-2) called his shot — in the romance department.
“I’ve been waiting 31 months to get on this damn mic and to call these people out right now. This is my time to shine,” he exclaimed in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “So Miley Cyrus, will you be my Valentine?”
Why the interest in Cyrus, known for everything from portraying Disney’s Hannah Montana to cavorting naked on a wrecking ball?
“The real question is what’s not to be interested in her?” responded Marquez, speaking to media outlets backstage at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. “Think about it, I’m 30 years old, I grew up watching Hannah Montana, Party in the USA. We’re sitting here loving it.” Marquez knows his Miley trivia, going on to list albums and noting that “I’ve been to her concert many times. She came out with Wrecking Ball, I made a big, big come up after that song, I actually walked out to that.”
And when he walks out to Cyrus, good things happen. “Every time time I walk out to Miley, she does something to me to figure out a way to win. She’s just, she’s my love. I love that woman.”
So what are his chances of actually landing a date with Cyrus? “Like 100%. Have you seen me? Do you not see this beautiful beard and this gorgeous smile and these pretty eyes? She’s about to make a song about me. Let’s go!”
Later, he suggested that he’d be open to a little something with porn actress Riley Reed as well. She’ll have to take a number, however. Cyrus responded to Marquez shooting his shot on social media.
Shave an MC into your chest hair and I am YOURS ❤️ Happy VDay and Congrats my love!
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) February 14, 2021
Someone get the man a pair of clippers. In the meantime, Marquez made a successful return from over 30 months on the sidelines when he submitted Maki Pitolo in the third round of their PPV opening middleweight affair. The fight was Marquez’s first since July of 2018, when he suffered a split decision loss to Alessio Di Chirico. Most observers felt Marquez was down in the fight, prior a hail mary anaconda choke submission in the third.
To Marquez, the fight went exactly the way it needed to. “Let’s be honest. Everybody wants to go in there and finish the damn fight in 10 seconds. We all want a Jorge Masvidal win. Get in, get out, and get paid,” said Marquez. But after being out of action for so long, he continued, “I’m grateful that it went the way that it went. It showed a lot. That you’re going to have to be a tough MF to take me out. It showed a lot, that I’m not going to quit just because I got hit. It shows you everything, and it showed me, it proved to me, that this is who I am, this is where I want to be, this is where I belong.”
