Marcin Held happy with long-awaited 1st UFC win, hopes to prove he belongs

GDANSK, Poland – Marcin Held expected to make quick work of his UFC Fight Night 118 foe, which didn’t pan out. But considering the tricky position he was at in the UFC, a win will do just fine.

“I’m really happy,” Held told reporters backstage at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Held (23-7 MMA, 1-3 UFC) took an unanimous decision over Nasrat Haqparast (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC). The 30-27 scorecards, however, might not accurately reflect just how much trouble the UFC newcomer gave Held, who was even knocked down in the second round of the lightweight bout that streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

It certainly wasn’t the “fast submission” that Held expected going into it. But fact remains he’s officially bounced back from the disappointing three-fight skid that kicked off a UFC run surrounded by high expectations.

“It was huge pressure,” Held said. “I was trying not to think about it. But somewhere in the back of my head the pressure was really big. I hope into the next fight I will go with (less) pressure. It will be even easier.”

Held’s long-awaited UFC win came with an added bonus: The Polish fighter got to enjoy it in front of his home fans, something he hadn’t done in years. Held loves to travel and is happy to do it. But he’ll admit there’s certainly some added perks to fighting at home.

“Before, it didn’t matter for me,” Held said. “But now I see how much easier it is. I have everything here. I know everything here. It’s much easier to communicate, to go somewhere.”

After a period of feeling “unhappy” in the promotion, Held believes he’s now proven he’s worthy of being on the UFC roster. And he’s hoping productive conversations with its matchmakers and officials will follow what was the last fight in his current contract.

Whether he’ll get what he wants remains to be seen, but Held already has some ideas for his future.

“I really would like to take revenge with someone I’d lost to,” Held said. “Joe Lauzon, Diego Sanchez or Damir Hadzovic. I would like to fight them one more time to show that I was really unhappy, and I would like to show that I deserve to be here, and I’m a better fighter than them.”

To hear more from Held, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 118, check out the UFC Events section of the site.