Isaac Dulgarian pushed past 'fear of failure' as biggest betting favorite in UFC history

LAS VEGAS – Isaac Dulgarian beat Brendon Marotte with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 242 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Dulgarian, who rebounded after the first loss of his career – but also had to go outside the first round for a win for the first time.

Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte

Result: Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:19
Updated records: Dulgarian (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), Marotte (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Key stats: Dulgarian was the biggest betting favorite in UFC history around -2400.

Dulgarian on the fight’s key moment

“I wanted to kind of take my time a little bit and show off my striking because I still haven’t gotten to yet. But I feel like he was just an opponent that the UFC gave me, and I just needed to get him out of there as quickly as possible. I just found my takedown and started putting damage, and I realized there’s no way he was getting up. He was trying, but my grappling is another level. He was saying he wrestled better D-I wrestlers than me, and he was lying – blowing smoke out his ass. I’m one of the best wrestlers in the world, so I think I proved that tonight to him.”

Dulgarian on being the biggest favorite in UFC history

“Those thoughts come across your head sometimes, the fear of failure and the feeling of being embarrassed or whatever. But at the end of the day, the people that make the odds, they don’t really know me or anything like that. It’s a fight, so anything can happen. I just really wanted to keep my mind clear and in that fight, in the middle of the second round, right before I found the choke, I just thought of my daughter and I knew I needed to finish this fight so I can go home to her – that was literally it.”

Dulgarian on what he wants next

“I think (when I come back) will be determined on who they give me, what names are being called out, and hopefully I can get a new contract, too. That’s my biggest thing is I want to get on my next contract so I can start actually making some decent money so that I can go out and really invest in my training and get a little bit extra into that. I’ll fight anybody at 145. I was kind of considering going down to 135. I think it’s possible. But I’ve got to get to my next contract so I can afford to get a really good nutritionist and stuff.”

To hear more from Dulgarian, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.