ONE ON ONE FT. MARCELA VARGAS

[When the camera starts rolling, there’s a lot of commotion in the background–somewhere, off camera, they’re testing mics and sound systems, but we aren’t focused on that. Instead, we’re focused on three people, sitting at a table together: Union GP’s favorite Sharp Dressed Man, Isaac Cohen; a notably relaxed looking Marcela Vargas, in her walkout jacket and a pair of sweats, with the Lightweight Championship across her lap; and one of Marcela’s teammates, similarly wearing a zip-up walkout jacket, serving as a translator for the Brazilian. There’s a little conversation going before we started recording, but when the red light turns on, Isaac draws everyone’s attention, and the two Brazilians straighten up in preparation.]

ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac Cohen, inside Madison Square Garden, ahead of the weigh-ins for this weekend’s absolutely massive UGP 77. With me at this time, the new Lightweight Champion of the World, Marcela Vargas, who makes her first defense of that title just over a month after winning it, when she faces number 4 ranked Aliyah Marshall in the first of three title fights this weekend! Marcela, thank you for joining me!”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(Of course, thank you for having me.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “So, before we get to this weekend, I think we have to talk about last month: UGP 76, the co-main-event. Going into that third round, it was a toss-up, maybe 1-1, you might’ve been down 2 rounds already. Did you get the sense that you needed to be more urgent, in that round?”

[Marcela’s face scrunches up a little, looking away from the camera for a second.]

MARCELA VARGAS: “(I’ve watched Sadie fight for a long time. She seems to get better as the fights go on. She finds openings, she takes chances later in fights that other people aren’t willing to. So I knew I wanted to get the fight finished as quick as possible. I don’t know if it felt urgent, I didn’t feel overwhelmed or anything, I just felt like…I didn’t want to give her a chance to catch me like she did the first time we fought.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “It looked like that’s where that fight was headed, as well–for the third round in a row, you ended up defending from underneath, and with a fighter of Sadie’s caliber, that usually means it’s only a matter of time…”

[Even Isaac gets a little bit of a sly smile on his face as he speaks–mirrored by the Lightweight Champion’s, whose expression twists into a grin.]

ISAAC COHEN: “But on that night, you found an opening that changed everything.”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(Yeah, it was…unexpected, to say the least.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “After the way the first fight turned out, was that something you wanted to show, that you could hang on the ground with someone like Sadie? Or was it just…a momentary lapse, that you took advantage of?”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(I wanted to win the belt. I didn’t go into that fight thinking I have to submit her, I have to do this or that, just because of what happened the first time. If I got back to my feet instead of getting around behind her, then I would’ve been trying to knock her out, I happened to end up getting to her back, so I went for the choke, and Sadie got a reminder that I’m not just a one-way fighter. I said before our first fight, I’m not afraid to engage with her on the mat–her being better than a lot of the division never meant she was untouchable. She made a mistake, and I’m in the business of punishing mistakes.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “And you hung the first submission of her career on her, in the process. That leads me to a question, though–before we get to this weekend’s fight, that was less than a month ago. You barely had time to come down from the fight before, apparently, you were on the phone with Dante Reed?”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(Yeah, I didn’t really get a chance to talk about this publicly, so let’s talk about that.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “Please do.”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(The, uh…)”

[Marcela’s hand spins a little, like a nervous tic as she tries to find the word she’s looking for; for a moment, she looks over her shoulder, at her translator and teammate, then just tosses her hand when neither of them can find it.]

MARCELA VARGAS: “(The promotion. On the website. It talked about how some people cling to that win, because of that feeling of accomplishing something, right?)”

ISAAC COHEN: “We’ve definitely seen fighters in the past become more…cautious, once they have the belt–whether that’s because it validates their career, or what their reasons are…”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(Right, that.)

[Isaac just shrugs, but Marcela nods and continues her thought so Isaac doesn’t have to.]

MARCELA VARGAS: “I’m not like that. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and rack up days on my reign, I want to get defenses. If I can manage it, I want to be on every card from now until the end of the year; I want to take on everybody that wants a chance. I don’t care what their ranking is, I don’t care what their styles are, I don’t care if we’ve fought before or not. Sadie wants a third fight? Bring her up. Trevor wants another fight? Let’s do it. Meyers, Rodriguez, Laws, any and all of them. I’m not interested in sitting back, I want to be in the cage.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “So, even though you just went thru training camp for Sadie, had the whole fight and everything that comes with it–and with winning the title…”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(That wasn’t enough. Correct.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “Wow. Alright, fair enough…I guess that brings us to this weekend’s fight: a rising star at 155 pounds in Aliyah Marshall, who’s similarly coming off a win just a month ago, over the CLA Lightweight Champion, Renan Moreira, which I think might be the fastest turn around we’ve ever had for a Union GP title fight.”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(I was thinking about that last week, we’ve fought on a lot of the same cards. I don’t know if that’s coincidence, if she’s like me and doesn’t like sitting around waiting for a fight.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “Kayla and I talked about this a lot last month, there’s a lot of hype behind Aliyah; she’s been tremendously impressive ever since an early loss to Johnny Laws, she’s shown glimpses of big time knockout power against the likes of a Maddox Moon, she dictated the majority of last month’s fight with Renan Moreira; what’s your take on Aliyah, thus far in her career?”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(Yeah, I think you said it pretty well, she’s been really impressive. I don’t have a whole lot I can say about it, really…except that I think the level of her competition doesn’t prepare her for this weekend.)”

[For a moment, Marcela looks like that might be all she’s going to say on that topic, stopping for a moment to take a drink of water. Before Isaac can continue, though, the War Goddess leans back in her seat and continues.]

MARCELA VARGAS: “(I’m not going to take away from the performances. She’s been impressive, she’s shown a lot of skill in these fights. Her timing on takedowns is impressive, she’s got decent boxing, her kicks are really heavy, and she’s been getting sharper over time.  I think she’s definitely moving in the right direction, but I also think she’s taking such a massive step up in competition this weekend. I mean…she hasn’t fought anyone with a winning record in Union, except Johnny Laws, and he’s the one that beat her. Beating someone like Renan, who…I know Renan–or at least I know of him–beating him is no easy job, but that’s the only fight she’s taken recently that even begins to prepare her for the kind of fight she’s going to be in this weekend, and even then…)”

[Marcela shrugs her shoulders a little bit.]

MARCELA VARGAS: “(I don’t mean to disrespect Renan, but we’re on different career paths–beating him doesn’t guarantee that she’s ready for me. The truth is, the difference between the fights she’s been preparing for…and the ones I’ve been preparing for? It’s kind of night and day–everyone I’ve fought in the last year has either been a former champion, or the reigning champion. She doesn’t have that kind of preparation, and she’s going to need more than…hype or momentum, to make up for that experience. Like I said, I’m not going to act like I didn’t watch her fights, I’ve seen what she can do and she has been impressive–but she doesn’t bring anything to the cage that I haven’t already seen. She doesn’t bring anything to the cage that I haven’t already beaten. I’ve faced better strikers than her, that leave fewer openings; I’ve faced better grapplers than her, and I’ve beaten them at their own games. Being good is one thing–being at the top is very different.)”

ISAAC COHEN: “Curiously, while the oddsmakers seem to agree with that, the Union GP fans didn’t seem to; the betting odds, last time I saw them, had you listed somewhere around a -300 favorite, but almost two-thirds of the fans think Aliyah walks out as the new Lightweight Champion. Does that give you any extra…motivation or anything like that?”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(It…hm…)

[Marcela starts to laugh a little…but the more that thought lingers in the air, the more it starts to kinda visibly bother the Lightweight Champion.

MARCELA VARGAS: “(I think I’m supposed to say no–I have all the motivation I need, right?)”

[At that question, she finally makes a point of lifting the Lightweight Championship off her lap, draping it over her shoulder.]

MARCELA VARGAS: “(But, to be really honest about it? Yeah. It does. Part of why I’m not going to sit back and count the days of this title reign, is because I don’t want there to be a single person that doubts who and what I am, in that cage. I don’t really care what the reason for it is–whether they like the underdog stories, or it’s her friends hyping her up, or the fans just really believe she’s going to beat me this weekend, what it tells me is I have more to do, to give those people no choice but to back me.)

MARCELA VARGAS: “(So, that’s what I’m going to do this weekend: make another statement. Aliyah’s a talented fighter, maybe in the future she’ll be champion–but it won’t be this weekend.)”

[For once, Isaac gets a solid prediction–and actually seems satisfied by it. Marcela, meanwhile, lets out a laugh and pushes her hair out of her face, a little more wound up than she expected to be.]

ISAAC COHEN: “It’s certainly going to be an interesting fight, especially with both of you so quickly bouncing back from UGP 76. Marcela, thank you so much for the time, best of luck this weekend.”

MARCELA VARGAS: “(Thank you!)”

[The two shake hands across the table, and the video cuts to black.]