Francis Marshall excited to make his UFC debut at UFC Orlando
Francis Marshall has been working a long time for the moment that awaits him on Saturday night at UFC Orlando.
Marhsall first walked into former UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino’s gym in New Jersey when he was 13 years old.
Pellegrino immediately knew that one day his then teenage pupil would make it into the UFC.
Over the years, Marhsall worked hard under Pellegrino and the two came up with a game plan to get a fast track to the UFC.
It was a few years ago in 2019, when Marshall was 20 years old and made his pro debut in Scranton, Pa in the Maverick MMA promotion.
After making a great first impression in the regional scene, Pellegrino would make an interesting move as Marshall’s trainer as he used his UFC connections to get Marshall into a regional show in Louisiana.
He made that decision in order to get Marshall used to flying, working out and cutting weight in new territories like the fighters in major promotions do on fight week.
After passing those tests with flying colors, Marshall stood 5-0 and got the attention the UFC matchmakers and was given an opportunity to impress UFC president Dana White on the bosses show Dana White’s Contender Series.
On the show, Marshall would get a unanimous decision win and White would give Marshall tons of compliments on his performance and he gave him a UFC contract as well.
Now Marhsall is now 23-years-old and after 10 years of work and dedication to his training, he will finally make his long anticipated UFC debut when he fights Marcelo Rojo at UFC Orlando this Saturday night.
Prior to the fight, Marshall spoke with MyMMANews about his matchup with Rojo, his excitement for his UFC debut and having so many of his family and friends coming to Florida to watch his debut.
You can watch his full interview in the video above.
A full list of fights scheduled for UFC Orlando are listed below:
Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland
Tai Tuivasa vs. Sergei Pavlovich
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Bryan Barberena
Derek Brunson vs. Jack Hermansson
Angela Hill vs. Emily Ducote
Natan Levy vs. Genaro Valdez
Darren Elkins vs. Jonathan Pearce
Amanda Ribas vs. Tracy Cortez
Michael Johnson vs. Marc Diakiese
Marcelo Rojo vs. Francis Marshall
Clay Guida vs. Scott Holtzman
Eryk Anders vs. Kyle Daukaus
Matheus Nicolau vs. Matt Schnell