MarQuel Mederos wants Saturday night to be his official introduction to the rest of the UFC lightweight division.
Mederos meets Mason Jones on the main card of UFC Sacramento, and he told UFC.com he sees Jones’ seven-fight winning streak as exactly the kind of opponent who can bring out his best.
“I love that I got this matchup,” Mederos said. “Reason being it’s a great opportunity. I think people rate Mason highly. I think he thinks he should be fighting top 15. So, I go beat him, I get a top 15 shot myself. So, I love the opportunity to go make a statement.”
Mederos enters the fight at 11-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 inside the Octagon, with his lone blemish coming in a majority draw against Chris Padilla at UFC 327 in April, a result that was changed from a Padilla win to a draw due to scoring errors.
He said that result won’t carry over into how he approaches Jones.
“A fight is a fight,” Mederos said. “I don’t read too much into that. I think that’s MMA math, right? And you see how that works out a lot. It doesn’t really work out too good. So, I just take it for what it is.”
Mederos Sees Holes In Jones’ Game
Jones is fighting in his second UFC stint after returning to the promotion on a hot streak, picking up post-fight bonuses in each of his last two appearances. Mederos respects the resume, but he isn’t intimidated by it.
“I think he’s a dog,” Mederos said. “To get away from the UFC, go on a run, and then come back and start winning speaks to his mentality. But I also feel there’s a lot of holes in his game. He has had a lot of Fight of the Nights. He relies on his chin and his cardio.”
Mederos credited a recent move to The MMA Lab in Arizona for sharpening his game heading into fight week.
“I think this is the most comfortable I’ve felt since I moved to my new gym,” he said. “So that also plays a factor into things.”
Mederos and Jones open the main card of UFC Sacramento, which airs Saturday on Paramount+ following Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues in the middleweight main event.
