Former WSOF champion and #4 ranked UFC bantamweight Marlon ‘Magic’ Moraes (21-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is on a three fight win streak. With back-to-back lethal finishes of top 10 fighters in Aljamain Sterling and Jimmie Rivera respectively, Moraes finds himself at the top of the food chain to challenge for the title.
However standing in his way is one factor, his controversial split decision loss against Rafael Assancao on his UFC debut. With Assancao also being on a three fight win streak and 10-1 in the UFC, he certainly cannot be neglected over Moraes. However Moraes claims that the fans believe he’ll make for a more exciting title challenger .
“I’m getting prepared to be the UFC bantamweight champion,” Moraes said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. “Who do the people want to watch, me against Cody, me against Dillashaw, or Raphael? Raphael fought Dillashaw. The fight wasn’t exciting. I think the fans want to see me, even some fans want to see ‘let’s see if this guy’s really good, let’s test him’ and the fans want to see if he can win. So I think I am next.”
“The fans know,” Moraes responded when asked if he thought he won. “The media knows. [People] who were watching the fight know. So, I don’t know.”
Moraes believes he has proven that he belongs in the UFC and his credentials when he fought for WSOF cannot be questioned.
“Me and my team, we knew we could do well. But we enjoyed the process, and that was good. I’m thankful for the World Series of Fighting,” Moraes said. “World Series of Fighting is never going to die — me, Justin Gaethje, David Branch, Anthony Johnson, are we good or not? What do the fans think now? What are everyone else, the haters say, ‘Oh, you guys fighting bums, you guys overpay.’ Now they see.”
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UFC Fight Night Results – Marlon Moraes Knocks Out Jimmie Rivera in R1