Maybe it doesn’t come as a surprise that a black belt judoka picked up his first UFC stoppage with a throw. However, it was slightly a surprise that it was Jack Jenkins who entered the clinch with Chepe Mariscal and not the other way around. When that happens, Mariscal sees it as an open challenge directly to his face.
“He’s the one that started tying up with me. I watched my film and was like, ‘look, he grabbed me,” Mariscal recalls. “The way a black belt judoka responds – if you grab me, I’m going to grab you, and that’s where you brought it.”
That open challenge exists not only in the UFC, but throughout his life. In fact, he says that anyone who really knows him is on alert at all times.
“For sure, even my teammates, people that really know me – they don’t even give me a hug because they’re not sure how I’ll respond,” he said with a laugh. “That’s the big thing, I knew my striking would make him tie up.”
Now, over a decade into his MMA career, Mariscal is working at trying to harness that skill and the aggressive striking that goes with it. He feels that his abilities to do so are going to bring him to the very highest level in the sport.
“You put on a show and all that stuff, but now how do I control this?” Mariscal said. “We got to control the beserker and learn how to turn it off and turn it on.”
He’ll look to do that and keep an eye out for more open challenges at UFC Vegas 90. He faces Morgan Charriere as part of the main card. The card begins at 3pm EST and airs on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 2:08.
