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MMA

16th Mar 2019

Jack Marshman says he defied army and ‘ran away’ to fight John Phillips

Wayne Farry

ufc london

Marshman defeated compatriot John Phillips at UFC London

Welsh UFC fighter Jack Marshman has admitted that he will have to wait until Monday to discover whether he will receive punishment for disobeying the army and taking part in UFC London on Saturday night.

Marshman defeat his compatriot John Phillips at the O2 Arena in a split decision, but his confirmation afterwards that the British Army had told him he wasn’t allowed to fight grabbed the post-fight headlines.

“I’ve literally got to work that out with the army,” Marshman said when asked about his dual status as a UFC fighter and a paratrooper.

“Legally, I’m contracted to the army and they told me I wasn’t fighting this weekend on Thursday, so I was like packing my bags and ran away.

“Not a lot of people understand that I’m a full-time paratrooper. This is my hobby. I’m fighting at the highest possible level of MMA whilst being a full-time paratrooper. That’s my job, that’s my profession.

“I’ll work it out with the army, they’ll see what they want to do. You can’t be employed by two people at the same time, if you understand.”

“We’ll find that out on Monday, won’t we?”