Julian Márquez could be in the crisis of his life. The Cuban-American fighter was confident that his fight against Marc-Andre Barriault would be one of the most interesting of the night and he was not wrong in his prediction.
But he could not see a clear path to victory and it came down to a technical stop on Saturday night, when the referee stepped in to stop the fight in the second round and spare the soldier who calls himself the “Cuban Missile Crisis”. punishment
When a third man in the octagon intervened between the two fighters to stop the fight, Márquez was in the process of surviving, but with little luck, as the rain of elbows and punches penetrated his entire body, blood was constantly flowing from his body.
The biggest change was that Márquez had started the race with great force and, without a doubt, had won the better of the former, who exposed the Canadian defense and gave the appearance that victory was in hand.
However, after the first moment of the second round, Barriault used the time to become the aggressor from Márquez, who was very tired and began to proceed to that, except for the occasional combo, defending himself and limiting himself. cleaning himself, where blood can be made from his face.
For Márquez, this is the second loss in a row and the second appearance he will likely fight for his career in the UFC, an organization he joined in 2017. The 32-year-old fighter has fought five times in the bantamweight division with three wins. and three losses.
The “Cuban Missile Crisis” has defeated the likes of Darren Stewart, Maki Pitolo and Sam Alvey, while his misfortunes have come against tougher gladiators such as Alessio Di Chirico and Gregorius Rodrigues, now Barriault.
Márquez’s entry into the UFC came via one of the most devastating endings to Dana Albi’s Contender Series: a kick to the head that knocked out Phil Hawes. In five Octagon appearances, Márquez earned three $50,000 post-fight bonuses.
The son of a Cuban father -from Pinar del Río- who arrived in New Jersey City in 1971, when he was already two years old, and an American mother, Márquez grew up in Kansas City in the middle of two cultures.
