Three big upsets took place on the PFL 1 main card on Friday.
Bubba Jenkins out-wrestled Lance Palmer in one. In the main event, Clay Collard out-boxed Anthony Pettis in another. But perhaps the most surprising was the upset of Natan Schulte by Marcin Held.
Held has long been known as a threat on the ground. But he showed improved striking on Friday night in Atlantic City, in a fight that turned out to be an absolute barn burner.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Held (27-7) credited his training camp for his success. “It was the best training camp. I did everything good,” he told Cageside Press. Although, he admitted that “maybe the plan was a little bit different. I expected to take him down and do more on the ground. But it wasn’t so easy, so I had to fight standing up.”
In the end, for Held, it’s evidence that he’s an all-around mixed martial artist, not just a ground specialist.
“Like I’ve said a lot lot of times, I’m not only a Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappling fighter, I’m a complete MMA fighter than can fight standing or on the ground. Everywhere,” he stated. “I feel good everywhere. The next time, you will see, you can’t expect that I will only go on the ground and try to finish the fight on the ground. I can punch, I can win striking, I can win on the ground, I’m a complete MMA fighter.”
Picking up a win over the champ right out of the gate, “I hope I showed that [against] one of the best fighters in this division,” Held added.
With that win under his belt, Held moves forward with three points. He may now be one of the favorites to move into the playoffs and win the championship.
Watch the full PFL 1 (2021) post-fight press conference above.
