You’d think that someone with almost 20 professional fights in their MMA career would’ve seen it all, but that wasn’t the case for UFC bantamweight Daniel Marcos.
Marcos (17-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), a rising contender at 135 pounds, suffered his first career defeat in his last outing back in May, losing a unanimous decision against Montel Jackson. It was a tough pill to swallow, and one that brought new challenges and difficulties he’d never experienced before.
“People stop talking to you, they distance themselves from you, there’s no support,” Marcos told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “That’s what happens. You’re no longer a priority. It’s the same as cock-fighting. It’s the same. A roster loses and they get killed and cooked. That’s it. They just find another one and put him in there. That’s fighting. Literally.”
Marcos admits he went through a rough patch following his defeat to Jackson. However, he picked himself back up and got back to work. The Peruvian fighter returns to the octagon against Miles Johns (15-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 264 (ESPN+), which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“Soncora” had to battle tooth and nail to get himself back on track.
“The reality is that it is difficult,” Marcos explained. “For the people that say that it isn’t, it’s very tough. More than anything, it is difficult because there’s people that come in your life and when these things happen, they leave you. The only people who stay with you are the ones that appreciate you because of who you are. So that happened, I also had some other circumstances in my life I never thought I’d go through. I also was able to see and experience how to climb out of that hole because it’s another aspect people don’t realize, and some fighters can stay in that hole for a long time. I climbed out of it. I told myself, ‘No, this isn’t going to define me. It’s not going to spoil all the work that I’ve done and who I am. This defeat changed everything. It changed how I think, how I see things, and what type of goals I set for myself. It made me reflect a lot.”
Marcos does see some humor to his setback. After all, he’s still in the UFC, and sports a very enviable record.
“People ask you, ‘What happened? What happened?’ and you kind of come to your senses and think, ‘Man, that was my first loss. I have 18 fights. It happens,'” Marcos said. “People judge you, but it happened, ok? I can’t just stay there. A lot of people attack you, which is surprising, but it happens, and this is what it’s all bout. In MMA, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. But it’s up to you to continue and get better. I was born for this.”
