Marine veteran Eric Nolan vows to end UFC losing streak for fellow servicemembers at UFC 332

Eric Nolan carries more than a 8-5 record into his welterweight clash with Court McGhee (22-14) at UFC 332 on 3 October at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City — he carries the weight of an entire branch of the military.

The 0-2 UFC record has stung Nolan not just professionally but personally. He began training in mixed martial arts while serving in the Marine Corps and has spoken openly about wanting to represent the service at the sport’s highest level. Two losses into his UFC tenure, he feels he has fallen short of that goal.

“When I started MMA, I always said I wanted to represent the United States Marine Corps at the highest level of the sport,” Nolan told MMA Fighting. “And it took me eight years to get here. And I finally have the opportunity to do that. And I’ve been disappointing them. And I know my brothers and sisters out there are rooting for me. So, now it’s just time to turn it up and show the world why I’m in the UFC.”

Nolan enlisted straight out of high school in 2015 and served until 2019 before pursuing MMA full-time. The connection to his former colleagues has not faded. He says his direct messages fill with messages from active and former Marines every time fight night arrives, and he makes a point of responding to each one.

“Every single time I’ve fought, I always answered every single Marine,” he said. “I try to get back to all of them because I know what they go through every single day.”

The bout against McGhee represents Nolan’s third UFC appearance and, by his own framing, his most significant. A win would not only move him off the schneid inside the Octagon but deliver on a promise he made to himself — and to the Marines who have been watching — when he first laced up gloves a decade ago.