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Marco Tulio of UFC

UFC middleweight Marco Tulio spoke out following his unanimous decision defeat to Roman Kopylov on the UFC 328 undercard.

Tulio entered his middleweight bout at UFC 328 against Kopylov as the betting favorite, but the fight did not play out the way the betting odds indicated at all, as the Russian defeated the Brazilian in an upset.

In the first round, Tulio controlled the center of the Octagon and was able to land more strikes at distance to take the first on the scorecards. In the second round, it was more of the same for Tulio for the first four minutes of the round, until Kopylov caught him with a huge shot and dropped him in the final minute. Tulio was able to survive to the end of the round, but Kopylov’s knockdown sealed the second round for him.

With the fight tied up 19-19 heading into the third round, it was anyone’s fight to win or lose. But Kopylov once again showed off his power as he knocked Tulio down twice in the round. Though Tulio survived the dual knockdowns and made things interesting with a late flurry, it was not enough as Kopylov ended up winning a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards, with three identical 29-28 scorecards.

Marco Tulio Issues Statement Following UFC 328

After UFC 328 was over, Tulio took to his social media to issue a statement concerning the loss to Kopylov, offering no excuses for the loss.

“God’s plan is perfect!! Everything was just a childhood dream and today we are at the biggest event in the world. Thank you for blessing my life, God. Today was not a good day at work, but a day of learning. No sad story no mimimi, life only gives you two options, cry or learn from the journey and I will always choose the second option! Thanks to everyone who cheered for me we will soon be back stronger than ever! May God bless you all!” Tulio wrote on his Instagram.

Where Does Marco Tulio Go From Here?

This loss to Kopylov marked a second straight defeat inside the Octagon for Tulio, who was knocked out by Christian Leroy Duncan in his last bout. It’s been a tough go as of late for Tulio, who began his UFC career 2-0 with two knockout wins over Tresean Gore and Ihor Potieria. But since then, he’s lost both of his fights in the UFC to drop his record in the promotion to 2-2.

Obviously, the UFC is not going to release Tulio, as he’s always in exciting fights, win or lose. But clearly, he is not a top-15 middleweight contender like some thought he might be after his first two performances inside the Octagon.

As for what’s next for Tulio, there were four middleweight bouts on UFC 328, so he could be matched up against someone who also fought on the card in his next fight. For instance, Djorden Sanatos lost to Baisangur Susurkaev in the second fight of the night. With both men coming off losses now, this would be a sensible matchup for both in their next bout. The same could be said for Ozzy Diaz, who lost to Ateba Gautier in the featured prelim. Based on timing and considering they are each coming off a loss, look for Tulio to fight one of Santos or Diaz his next time out.