Las Vegas, NV — Marcus McGhee certainly made an impression in his promotional debut at UFC Vegas 72 on Saturday — both during and after his fight.
McGhee (7-1) earned a submission win against Journey Newson after stepping up on short notice to replace Bryan Barberena in the fight. The rear-naked choke came in the second round after some flashy stand-up that got fans talking; post-fight, McGhee’s personality did the rest.
“I felt like I could have made some different adjustments, but overall, I was happy to get the finish,” McGhee told media outlets including Cageside Press about getting the win over Newson. The experience, he added, was “Surreal. Just trying to bask in all this greatness right now.”
With only three days’ notice when he accepted the bout, McGhee kept his game plan simple. “My game plan was to come and knock him out. That was my game plan. I didn’t know if it was going to be left hand, right hand, head kick, I didn’t know what it was going to be. Body shot. I was just like ‘alright, I’m just going to throw the kitchen counter at him, kitchen sink at him,'” said McGhee. “That was my original plan.”
There’s no doubt the submission sits just fine with McGhee too, especially given how much of his arsenal he got to display. And he went on to recognize the caliber of opponent he was facing in Newson.
“I knew he was tough, I knew he could hit hard, I just wanted to have faith in the fact that I had done all the work and that I was going to be quick enough and sharp enough to get the job done.”
The win came with an added bonus, in the form of a $50,000 Performance of the Night award. A tidy night’s work for a fighter who, admittedly, was just trying to stay busy.
“I’ve been trying to fight, and I haven’t been as active as I wanted to be. I wasn’t just going to take anything, but I was getting a little desperate there for a minute,” said McGhee. “I wanted to fight, I had been since January. I was already planning on trying to fight in March, didn’t happen, April, just passed, May was coming up, it wasn’t looking like May was going to happen.”
“I was getting a little bit gun shy,” he added. Then the UFC called. “It was great to get in, great for it to be the UFC but I just want to fight. I want to show the world that I’m here to do that, and that love what I do, and just show myself, really. Show myself that I’m not just doing these things for no reason. I’m putting in this work and dedicating myself for the greater good.”
After a big splash in his debut, Marcus McGhee intends to head back to bantamweight (the fight with Newson was a scheduled catchweight of 140lbs due to its short-notice nature). Against who? McGhee might look and see who’s available before calling anyone out. Then again, he might not call anyone out at all.
“I’m not really into calling guys out, cause I love everybody. I’m a lover outside of the cage, I just love people, love life,” explained McGhee. “Whoever the UFC really offers me, I’ll be up for it, I’ll be ready for it.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 72 post-fight press conference with Marcus McGhee above.
