ONE ON ONE FT. VICTORIA MARSHALL
[As the video fades in, it’s to what looks like a whole podcast setup–with Isaac Cohen sitting at a table with a laptop in front of him, two microphones set up on either side of the table, and a giant UGP 71 poster on the far wall. Notably, nobody’s sitting at the other microphone, although Isaac is clearly in the middle of his show when the video begins.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the show, and now? One of my favorite things I get to do as part of Union Grand Prix, the One on One interviews, where we sit down with some of the headliners of our biggest fight cards of the year. Joining me now, the first and only Everest MMA Flyweight Champion, the former Union GP Bantamweight Champion; ranked #1 in the world, Pound for Pound, and this weekend, she moves up to 145 pounds in an attempt to become the Featherweight Champion! Ladies and gentlemen, Victoria Marshall!”
[Like a late night talk show, rather than a usual interview, Victoria rounds the corner once she’s introduced, dressed…a little more formally than we normally see her; albeit still not exactly dress and heels, but she’s at least not in a t-shirt and shorts today. She gives a little wave to the camera, before settling into the chair opposite Isaac with a little smile.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Victoria, thank you so much for joining me! Obviously, this week’s a big thing for everybody involved, so it’s always great to get a moment of your time.”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.”
ISAAC COHEN: “I think we gotta start with the elephant in the room: vacating the Bantamweight Championship. What led to that decision, was there any one thing in particular?”
[Victoria’s eyebrows raise a little–she’d become used to Kayla’s slightly softball questions to start things off, so Isaac going straight into things took her a bit off guard. But, she smiles a little, letting her head bob side to side.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Not exactly. I know you and Kayla have been talking about it…almost since the Featherweight Grand Prix last year, I feel like it was…almost every time I talked to you guys, you were asking about my future at 135, or if I was looking at…145, 155, possibilities of facing different people. But…I kept saying, I wanted to make my statement on 135 before I even thought about moving up. After the fight with Syn, yanno…four defenses in less than a year, I can be pretty proud of myself for staying active, taking on anyone. I guess I finally felt like I made that statement I wanted to make.
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “And then…there wasn’t really a clear contender, right away–obviously, Marissa was shooting up the ranks, Serenity was in line for a potential shot again, then you had people like Taylor Webb and Morgan LeChance that were getting hot, but nothing was really…set. And, I don’t really like sitting and waiting, so when Dante called me and told me he had a fight for me, I said yes without asking too many questions.”
ISAAC COHEN: “And that fight was this title shot at Featherweight?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Yeah, so…there was talk about it happening after UGP 67–obviously, it was a different conversation before that night, but Dante’d originally mentioned wanting to do me and Izzi, if we both retained—I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I hadn’t committed to it at that point, but there were talks going on. Then Verona came in and changed the whole script. Afterward, I kinda…put it to the back of my mind, until Dante called and made that offer. Move up, challenge Verona–and the more I thought about it, the more I kinda liked the idea. It was a new challenge, which I’ve always prided myself on taking…but, I realized I wanted to take a little time, get myself…I know it’s not a huge jump, from 135 to 145, but make sure I wasn’t coming in underweight or anything. I wanted a chance to get myself ready to compete at 145, make sure I was at my best.”
ISAAC COHEN: “I guess the underlying question was, why vacate the title in the meantime? We’ve seen people move up in weight in the past, and not vacate, what led to that decision, and was there any…hesitation, maybe, about leaving Bantamweight behind?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Honestly? Yeah, 100%. That title represented a lot for me—I know it’s been talked about to death, but like…I rearranged my entire life to get to that point; I left my home, changed the way I train, changed the way I diet, everything, so it was a big deal, and giving it up was…it wasn’t an easy decision. Especially cuz I knew everybody would have their own opinions on it. But also, once I felt…I dunno if satisfied is exactly the word I want to use, but I’m not sure what the word I want is, so I’ll stick with it. Once I felt satisfied with what I’d done at 135, that call from Dante about moving up to challenge at 145 came in, and I realized I could hold onto the belt, and maybe…let all the contenders figure it out, whatever it takes to do that. But I felt like that was…”
[Victoria exhales thru her nose, trying to think of how to phrase what she wants to say.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “It felt like a situation where a safety net was a bad thing, if that makes sense.”
ISAAC COHEN: “I…think so?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I started training, and I don’t really know what it was, but I didn’t feel…committed, like I should’ve been. Maybe because I knew, say this goes bad. Say I took the fight right away, right? Move up to 145, take the chance right away, and get beat–yeah, losing isn’t fun; yeah, it ends you and Kayla’s favorite talking point, that unbeaten run…but I still go back to 135 with my belt. At most, there’s…maybe an interim champion in the meantime? Just in case? Which never feels quite as satisfying, right? So…a week or so goes by, and I call Dante back. And I tell him, if I’m gonna commit to fighting at 145, fighting for the title at 145 no less? I have to commit to it, and I can’t hold up Bantamweight in the meantime. So, we came to an agreement, I’d vacate the title, move up, and let 135 crown a new champ.”
ISAAC COHEN: “You talk about committing to fighting at 145, is that a career move at this point, or do you mean in preparation of this fight? Is this a more…natural weight class for you, I guess?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “To start with, I definitely feel stronger and healthier at 145. Cutting weight…isn’t fun, and ten pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, until you’re draining yourself trying to make it. This is…one of the easier fight weeks I’ve ever had, in terms of making weight and being prepared, so I definitely think that’s a bonus. As far as committing to the move, well…”
[Victoria smirks a little and shrugs her shoulders.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Obviously, the hope is, after this weekend, I’ll be defending the belt at 145 for a while. But yeah, I think that’s the plan regardless–win or lose, I think 145 presents a lot of challenges that I’ve never really dealt with before. There aren’t many jiu-jitsu aces like Izzi at 135, there aren’t many wrestlers on par with someone like Lucija at 135, it’s…we’ve talked about this before, but it’s a very striker-heavy division, and, obviously, everyone presents their own challenges, but…I dunno, something about 145, I feel like it’s a change I need in my career right now.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Speaking of that. I know your reign as Bantamweight Champion was just under a year, but feels like it’s been so long since we’ve really talked about you as the hunter, rather than the hunted–what’s that been like, shifting back to coming into this weekend as the challenger instead of the champion?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I…”
[Victoria considers it for a moment, wrinkling her nose and clicking her tongue.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I would love to say I don’t think about it, or that it doesn’t matter, or whatever. But, it does. Everyone wants to be the champion, right? That’s the whole reason we’re in this sport, is to be the best. But…I’ve always chased this feeling, it’s not new to me, to be the one chasing a new medal or a new trophy or a new…whatever. I was really enjoying hearing Mike scream that ‘Reigning, Defending!’”
[She can’t help but giggle a little, really letting herself smile despite her usually calm demeanor.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “So I’m really looking forward to hearing him say ‘AND NEW!’ this weekend, but like…as far as how it affects me coming into this weekend, if anything it just makes me hungrier. I vacated a title I’d busted my butt to earn, for the chance to do something that not many people are ever gonna do–win a title in another weight. This weekend means a lot to me, and no small part of it is because I’m coming in as the challenger.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Then let’s get to this weekend, shall we? You mentioned this fight was originally talked about as a potential fight between yourself and Isabel Azevedo, before UGP 67 happened and Verona Jimenez…I think it’s fair to say, shocked a lot of people with that last second knockout of Izzi.”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Yeah, I know a lot of people look at those last second finishes and think, like…oh, you should give the champion the benefit of the doubt or whatever, but I was watching the fights while I was getting ready. Go back and watch it, Izzi’s…out, and then she takes a lot of punches right to the side of the head. It’s an ugly finish. And it really just put into perspective how dangerous Verona is, so long as the fight’s on the feet.”
ISAAC COHEN: “That’s a, uh…loaded statement, it feels like.”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Well.”
[Victoria laughs a little bit.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “When that fight hit the ground, she seemed a little…I don’t wanna say desperate exactly, but frantic, maybe? To get back to her feet. It felt like a pretty telling thing, not that being on the ground with Izzi sounds like a good time, but like…she knew there was only one place she was going to be able to succeed, and it wasn’t on the mat.”
ISAAC COHEN: “That seems to be the obvious strategy, then? Take her down, control the fight on the mat?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Yeah, I definitely think that’s the easiest route to take–but I think it says a lot about her that, like…Izzi struggled to take her down, Lucija didn’t even try, she’s obviously proven she has that ability to stay on her feet, and even with…just a few seconds left in the fight, if she’s on her feet, she’s dangerous. So it’s not an easy thing to do–but, I think it’s obvious that she’s gonna be looking to keep the fight on the feet. She’s not going to want to play the game of trying to get out from underneath me. She’s at her best when the fight’s at range, especially…I know all the number-crunchers are already figuring out the exact millimeter of reach advantage she’ll have on me, but I don’t think it’s a big stretch to say this isn’t gonna be a fight where she wants to test her wrestling training or try and become a submission grappler all of a sudden–I expect she’ll lean into what she’s good at, and she’s been very good at it…but it also makes her kinda…one-dimensional, I guess would be the easiest way to say it?”
ISAAC COHEN: “To your point, in six fights, I can only remember her being taken down by Izzi–”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Yeah, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy–I’m just saying, I think it’s the clear path to victory. When Izzi did get her to the mat, she didn’t have much in the way of answers, it was just…buck her hips and hope. Getting her to the mat is the hard part, she’s…pretty clearly focused on how not to get taken down. And, like I said, as long as she can control that, she’s a threat. But I’ve fought a lot of people that I could say the same thing about–good takedown defense, dangerous on the feet…the same could’ve been said for almost everybody I’ve fought in the last couple years, before I fought them, and I got them down anyway. So…basically, that’s my job this weekend, taking that control away from her and forcing her where she isn’t comfortable.”
ISAAC COHEN: “There’s also the wrinkle in this, that you fought Verona’s teammate, Serenity Holmes, earlier in the year; obviously, there’s a big difference between helping someone else train for a fight against someone, and training for them yourself, but do you think that’s given her any kind of…insight into preparing for this weekend’s fight?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I…hm.”
[Victoria laughs a little, pushing the hair out of her face.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I called Verona ‘one-dimensional’ a second ago, and like…I know a lot of people consider that an insult, I think it’s a fair thing to criticize–but I can’t pretend most of my fights aren’t the same way. I dunno what she would’ve learned helping Serenity prepare, that she wouldn’t have learned by watching tape or just…knowing what wrestling is. It’s pretty clear what we both are, it’s pretty clear what we’re about. I think the bigger question isn’t so much if she’s had a chance to prepare, it’s facing someone who’s gonna push her like I am. Cuz the only time she’s fought a wrestler like me…for whatever reason, Lucija was too hesitant to pull the trigger, especially on her takedowns. That’s…not gonna be me, I’m not gonna hesitate. She gives me an opportunity, I’m taking it, and we’ll figure out what she’s really prepared for.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Last question before I let you go–say you get your hand raised this weekend. You’re the new Featherweight Champion, one of only a couple people who have ever won Union GP titles in multiple weight classes. What do you think that means for your career, and your place in…really, the history of the sport? I know you’ve talked in the past about not really believing the Pound for Pound ranking, even after building your career up like you’ve done–do you think that would help solidify it for you?”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I…wow, um…”
[Victoria looks a little…timid? Almost? As she considers the thought. Her tongue clicks against the roof of her mouth, as she lets more than just a moment of silence pass between Isaac and herself before finally answering.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I’m really not sure. Hypotheticals are kind of hard for me to get my head around, especially when I’m focused on…yanno, the task at hand, but I…”
[She sits back in her seat, mulling over that idea again.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “I wanna say yes? I mean, that’s definitely the hope–to prove, without question, that I’m one of the best in the world. I think moving up, beating Verona, becoming Featherweight Champion, would go a long way to really establishing that. For myself, if for nobody else, I know Kayla’s been screaming that ranking from the rooftops every chance she gets…”
[Both Victoria and Issac laugh, the former Bantamweight Champion shaking her head a little.]
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “But I won’t really know for sure until it happens–until that belt’s wrapped around my waist, it’s all just…questions? Speculation, I guess? And who knows…maybe I’ll have an answer for you, after the fight. Maybe, I get my hand raised this weekend, and I can say definitively that I deserve to be called the best fighter in the world. Maybe…but right now, I’m not really sure–I just know that my focus this weekend is on turning that from speculation into reality. Before I can find out what winning the Featherweight Championship means to me, I gotta…win the Featherweight Championship, and that’s a hell of a lot easier said than done.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Fair enough–Victoria, thank you so much for joining me, best of luck this weekend.”
VICTORIA MARSHALL: “Thank you.”
[The camera pans over to Isaac specifically, letting him close out this segment of the show.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and gentlemen, you absolutely do not want to miss UGP 71 this weekend, our first show ever from Madrid! A duo of title fights, the Featherweight Championship fight we’ve just talked about, and the Middleweight Championship on the line as Zion Momo’a faces Alexander Sokolov for the third time! Coming up later on the show…”
[And, with that, the clip ends, and the video stops.]
