It’s been a minute since I’ve had the time to do one of these, but welcome back to Fighter Study, where I choose an exciting fighter and look at how their UFC run has gone so far. Today’s fighter is Marcus McGhee, who fights at UFC Vegas 118 against John Yannis.
Name: Marcus McGhee
Age: 36
Fighting out of: Phoenix, Arizona
Record: 10-2
Height: 5’8 (173 cm)
Reach: 69.0” (175 cm)
Weight: 135 lbs (Bantamweight)
Debut Fight v Journey Newson (10-4) UFC Vegas 72:
McGhee made his debut on short notice when he stepped in to face Journey Newson at UFC Vegas 72.
McGhee would showcase a great kicking game out of a southpaw stance with slick striking. His scrambles and takedown defence were on point, with Newson not having anything causing McGhee much issue.
McGhee would drop Newson with a left-straight before taking the back of Newson and submitting him with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
Very impressive debut performance by The Maniac. On short notice, he showed that he is a slick striker and a tricky customer in the grappling, as well as a tricky southpaw stance.
UFC Vegas 78 v JP Buys (9-5)
McGhee does a good job of countering when Buys overextends and catches him a few times in this first round.
I love McGhee’s comfort level in each stance, and you see a ton of stance switching in his fights, and this fight is no exception. He wobbles Buys with a step in jab-right hand.
The finish comes when McGhee times a step-in counter right hook when Buys commits to throwing his as he leaves his guard open, which McGhee cracks and gets the stoppage in the first round.
Another good performance from McGhee here. His striking is lovely to watch, and his movement with his stance switching makes him a tough customer to prepare for.
UFC Vegas 84 v Gaston Bolaños (7-3)
Bolaños the toughest striking test McGhee has had so far in the UFC. Close fight on the feet with both landing decent strikes.
McGhee brings grappling and clinching into the fight and starts to land better in the striking and does great work when Bolaños is pushed up against the cage.
Bolaños can’t handle McGhee’s pressure and McGhee starts to control the fight with striking and grappling.
The lead hook of McGhee is his main punch in this one and catches Bolaños a ton in this one.
McGhee drops Bolaños with a headkick into a lead hook and from there McGhee lands a spinning back kick and follows up with strikes before the referee steps in.
McGhee looked good here again. Had a lot more coming back at him in the striking, but once he figured out Bolaños, he was able to up his pressure and strike his way to a win.
UFC 309 v Jonathan Martinez (19-5)
McGhee is looking slick and sharp early in the striking and is annoying Martinez as he likes to lead the dance, usually, but McGhee’s constant pressure and combinations are annoying Martinez.
McGhee is fighting Martinez at his own game of leg kicks and is doing well, and has Martinez lost for what to do in the first round. I think a lot of Martinez’s issue in the first round is down to the fact that McGhee has power and pressure, which Martinez knows if he tries something, he can get caught, leading him to be quite timid early on.
McGhee is continuing his high pressure in round two, but Martinez is starting to wear it better, and when he trusts his leg kicks, he lands and does well, as Martinez, in my opinion, is one of the best kickers in the sport.
McGhee is such an entertaining striker to watch because of his commitment to throwing to every part of the body. He mixes head to body to leg strikes really well and makes sure to give every part equal attention.
Martinez is starting to get more comfortable with his success with the leg kicks and lands a nice step-in elbow, which McGhee eats. You can start to see that McGhee’s lead leg is in pain, but he’s doing just enough not to make it super obvious to Martinez.
You can tell in the third round that McGhee’s leg has been compromised and that he is trying to survive and get to the end of the fight, as he’s comfortably won the first two rounds.
To McGhee’s credit, he is still throwing nice strikes and kicks, which are landing well against Martinez. McGhee gets his leg kicked and has a big reaction, which signals to Martinez to step up the kicking, which he does, and McGhee is just trying to stay out of range enough with three minutes left in the round.
The fight enters the clinch, which is perfect for McGhee, even with his back against the cage. McGhee gets about a minute of rest for his legs in that clinch against the cage before it goes back to the middle, where Martinez lands another good leg kick.
McGhee is able to survive to the bell and takes the decision, but this was the first time in the UFC we’ve really seen McGhee look like he could be finished, but he showed smart fight IQ to survive and was still landing the occasional good strike in the final round.
UFC Abu Dhabi v Petr Yan (18-5)
McGhee is struggling to get his usual rhythm of constant pressure and combinations off against Yan, who usually starts the first round slowly, but was landing well whenever McGhee tried to step inside.
McGhee lands a few solid strikes in the middle of the round, and his leg kicks are working in the first round. McGhee has a good last 30 seconds and finishes the round keeping it competitive against Petr Yan.
McGhee tries to get a takedown up against the cage, but can’t find much success, but does land a nice elbow on the way out.
There is a small period where McGhee has a bit of success in the second round, where he’s landing well and catching Yan off guard.
Yan stumbles McGhee with a right hand and starts to take over the fight, but McGhee is still throwing and not just giving up.
The best thing you can say about this fight for McGhee is that he doesn’t look massively out of place in there with a guy like Yan. He’s holding his own and even when hurt, is still landing well.
Yan would win the fight via a unanimous decision, but you got to see that McGhee can hang with the top guys in the division and on a better night could’ve taken the win.
Next Fight: UFC Vegas 118 v John Yannis
Next up for McGhee is John Yannis this weekend at UFC Vegas 118. This should be a great opportunity for McGhee to get back in the win column and build back to a potential rematch with the now current champion Petr Yan.
Overall Thoughts:
Marcus McGhee is a great fighter to watch with slick striking and a solid grappling game and you’ve seen in his time in the UFC that he is ready for that top of the division and I’d be shocked if we don’t see him in the rankings sooner rather than later.