Lewis McGrillen explains what went wrong in shock defeat at PFL Austin ahead of 20-day turnaround in Charlotte

Lewis McGrillen has said his shock defeat at PFL Austin last month helped him realise MMA is a ‘game of inches.’

‘The McGrizzla’ returns to action just 20 days since his loss to Rafael do Nascimento, high up on a well-shaped PFL Charlotte card on Friday, live on talkSPORT.

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McGrillen was originally scheduled to fight a much higher-level opponent, Sergio Pettis, in Austin, but the latter pulled out with an injury, meaning he was booked against do Nascimento.

The Brazilian was a big underdog for his co-main event with McGrillen and ended up submitting the Manchester native with a rear-naked choke in round two.

Speaking to Ade Oladipo and Ashley Williams on talkSPORT Drive to preview his quick turnaround, McGrillen revealed he got a little carried away in the cage as it was his first fight in 14 months.

McGrillen: I’m ready to prove myself again

“I just felt like it was a bit of cobwebs that needed to be dusted off,” McGrillen said.

“I got a bit too excited in there and a bit too eager, but for me now, because I’m 25 in this sport of MMA, I’ve still got a long road to go.

“I just need to trust the process and to take the right fights with the right timing.”

Speaking on what he needs to improve at PFL Charlotte, McGrillen added: “I’ve got a list.

“I only fought two weeks ago and as soon as I got off the plane I was straight back in the gym, still jetlagged and working on what I needed to work on.

“The higher level I fight at now, it’s a game of inches and one little slight adjustment can change everything.

“That played a factor [against do Nascimento], I worked on it straight away and I’m ready to showcase and prove to myself and to the world again to patch up the skillset and go again.”

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Who else is fighting at PFL Charlotte?

McGrillen made his PFL debut in March 2023 and went 8-0 in the promotion before suffering his first professional MMA defeat against Weslley Maia.

In December 2024, he knocked out Alexander Luster to claim the PFL Europe bantamweight title and a whopping $100,000.

He now takes on American Brandon Lewis at PFL Charlotte with the hope of righting the wrongs to climb into the promotion’s bantamweight rankings.

PFL Charlotte is headlined by a top-ranked middleweight clash between Bryan Battle and Dalton Rosta.

British light heavyweight Simeon Powell fights Dovlet Yagshimuradov in the co-main event.

McGrillen’s fight against Lewis is second on the main card after Josh Fremd’s middleweight bout against Jhony Gregory.

PFL Charlotte is live and FREE on the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel and X account for fans based in the UK.