Issue 163

January 2018

How Jack Marshman’s combat career goes way beyond the cage.

I always wanted to join the Army, and what people don’t realize is I’m still serving! I was back with 3 Para up in Colchester, England, before my last fight. They give me a lot of time off for training because I’m on an elite sports waiver, so I get an amount of days a year to train.

I joined when I was 17 and on my fourth week of basic training, I fought for my first amateur MMA title – two fights in one night. Normally, they don’t let you go home for the first six weeks, but after that I didn’t really compete at all.

I got into boxing in the Army, and that’s where my level really came on. It’s really high-level and if you can compete, it’s good. That’s where it took off and I turned over to pro MMA, competing while serving.

I’d never been on an aeroplane before I joined the Army. It’s not so much that I’m scared of heights – well, maybe a little bit – it’s more that I hate flying. If I go on holiday with the missus, she’d have to hold my hand!

I hate flying. My first eight times on a plane I jumped out and on the ninth I flew to Afghanistan, so I had some pretty s**t plane rides! I did start liking jumping, but I prefer a fully-working plane which lands somewhere hot – not Afghanistan! 

For the Army in general, you need mental toughness, but the type of people the Parachute Regiment breeds is really something else. We’re all mentally strong, tough fighters, so it’s going to help in the cage. You can’t take everything you learn across because it’s two completely different things, but you can definitely take the mental side in there with you.

When the pressure’s on, it’s definitely not really an issue for us. We’ve been in that situation a million times. That’s why I think I do so well in fights. In every fight I have, I usually have a tough first round, then get into it as the grind goes on, and that’s where I get better and better. That’s exactly what it’s like in the Army. Your mental toughness will always find a way to fight through.

I’ve done two seven-month tours of Afghan. Everyone knows what’s going on over there – it’s paratroopers on the front line, always doing their best to serve. I’ve had some real highs, but sometimes you can lose a friend and it’s horrible. But we’re a professional Army and it’s what happens so you get through it all the same.

I’ve achieved a lot of things in MMA that I never thought I would and I’m very happy with, but the thing I’m most proud of in my life is being in the Paratroop regiment. It’s the elite of the British Army and once you’ve joined it, once you’re part of that brotherhood, you’re in it for life. That’s my defining thing. I’m a paratrooper first, definitely.

The Army is all about regimental pride and we’re proud of being paratroopers. We want to win everything. When I was boxing for the battalion, I was always winning. I never wanted to mess it up for the battalion. Especially seeing as I’m the only one competing in MMA, there’s a lot of pressure on my back to do them proud.

Everyone in 3 Para loves that I fight – from the top ranks to the privates. That’s the sort of people who are bred in the paratroop regiment. They’re all mentally tough and love to fight.

That’s why we’ve got such a good boxing team and we win the championship pretty much every time we enter!