Marcus McGhee appreciates ex-UFC champ Petr Yan facing him: 'I guess I am in the mix now'
Marcus McGhee will get the opportunity to jump the rankings if he can get past a former champion at UFC on ABC 9.
McGhee (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) takes on ex-bantamweight champion Petr Yan (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) on July 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Yan was on the cusp of title contention after back-to-back wins over Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo, but now has to fight back in the rankings.
With Cory Sandhagen touted as the next title challenger for bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, Yan will have to fight one more time – and McGhee is grateful to be the one who gets the matchup.
"I guess I am in the mix now, so I appreciate it and I'm down," McGhee told MMA Junkie Radio. "This is what we're for. This is what we're here to do. You can't take it away from Petr, but you can't take it from Cory Sandhagen, either. I do think Cory gets the next shot right now for sure over Petr.
"You could argue for sure that Petr would deserve it, as well, and I definitely agree that Petr didn't necessarily have to take a fight against a guy like me being No. 13 – so I appreciate him taking the fight and the opportunity to fight him as well."
McGhee's power has helped him prevail in the majority of his fights, but knows he's going up against not only an experienced fighter in Yan, but a well-rounded one as well.
"It's Petr Yan. There aren't a lot of holes in his game," McGhee said. "He's a complete fighter, and that's what excites me. I'm going to be fighting one of the most complete fighters in the world, and I've got to use every weapon that I have – and that's the plan. I have a lot of different weapons that I can utilize as well, and it's whose weapons are going to be sharper July 26."
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