SYDNEY – Chepe Mariscal knew something might’ve been wrong, but either way he had to do his job.
The UFC featherweight defeated Jack Jenkins this past Saturday at UFC 293 after Jenkins dislocated his arm in a grappling exchange during their contest. Mariscal (15-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) heard a pop when Jenkins injured his arm, but he continued fighting for a brief moment, even after Jenkins was verbally saying he was done.
“I didn’t (realize he was injured), even though I kind of heard a pop,” Mariscal told reporters backstage at UFC 293. “Sometimes in training you hear those kinds of things, and you just have to continue on. But I heard a pop and I went to readjust, and he kept saying, ‘My arm. My arm.’ I can’t stop when he’s saying it. I have to stop when the referee tells me to stop.”
Mariscal said he will contemplate a bantamweight move before a return. Either way, Mariscal’s goal is the same regardless of weight class.
“I definitely want to keep climbing the ladder,” Mariscal said. “There’s obviously a lot of names I need to go through, so I can be in the top 10 or challenge for the title. I’ve obviously got to chop some dude down and get my way there.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
