Francis Marshall walked out of UFC Fight Night 274 with a unanimous decision win over Lucas Brennan, sweeping the scorecards in their short-notice prelim matchup at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Both fighters accepted the bout on just a few days’ notice, but Marshall did enough over three rounds to secure the victory and move his MMA record to 10-3, including 4-3 in the UFC. Brennan, a former Bellator fighter, now sits at 11-3 in MMA and 0-1 in the UFC.
Speaking to media after the win, Marshall focused on what he wants to improve: "I feel like I could've capitalized more on some ground-and-pound, so that's going to be something that I go back to the gym and work on," he said. He added respect for Brennan’s grappling: "But he's a good jiu-jitsu guy, a lot of submission finishes, a high-level black belt, so a lot of it was, I was hesitant on losing position and having him scramble up." Marshall continued, "… His best path to victory would have been a submission or getting caught in a scramble, so I didn't want to give that to him."
Marshall, who trains at American Top Team and is from New Jersey, is already eyeing a quick turnaround. "July, August would be great," he said, with interest in appearing on upcoming UFC pay-per-view cards, including a planned UFC 330 event in Philadelphia in August.
