Marlon Moraes Ends Long Journey, Starts New Chapter At UFC 212
Marlon Moraes Ends Long Journey, Starts New Chapter At UFC 212
Former WSOF bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes makes his long awaited UFC this Saturday in Brazil.
For FloCombt via A.G Fight
With more than 20 fights to his name, Marlon Moraes will make his Octagon debut this Saturday, June 3, at UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro.
A former WSOF bantamweight champion, the Brazilian had hoped for years to finally get signed by the market leader. Since his last WSOF fight last December, Moraes has started to negotiate more intensely with the UFC and while the announcement of his debut fight took a while, having his first mission inside the octagon brings considerable relief.
"When things like this are happening, we get a little nervous because we want to go to the UFC and [we] want to fight," Moraes said. "But I think it happened right on time. I feel ready and I think everything comes at the right time. Sure, the toughest guys in MMA fight in the UFC. I want to fight the best and prove that I can be one of them. Everything arrived on time. I was going to have the opportunity to fight [..] a good opponent. That was exactly what happened. Now I feel ready to go out into the UFC."
Despite being happy to finally be a part of the most renowned MMA promotion in the world, Moraes confessed debuting in front of a Brazilian crowd against a compatriot was not exactly what he had imagined. However, as Raphael Assuncao is regarded as one of the best fighters in the division, the task comes as a welcome surprise.
"It was not what I imagined," Moraes said. "We never like fighting a Brazilian, but he's an athlete who is also looking for the belt, in search of his best [performance]. We're professionals and we fight [in] the UFC. Raphael is a tough guy and we will do our best to go out there in search of our dreams."
His opponent has a special meaning for Moraes not only because he is his first foe in the UFC and one of the best fighters in his weight class but also because of his first name. Moraes has a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, and it shouldn't come as a surprise now that his son is named Raphael.
During the phone interview, that connection made itself known through an acoustic reminder.
"It's just you and your opponent and... Just a second, my boy has a car racing around here. The car noise won't turn off, I'll just place it here... Anyway, I was saying it's only me and my opponent in there..."
With more than 20 fights to his name, Marlon Moraes will make his Octagon debut this Saturday, June 3, at UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro.
A former WSOF bantamweight champion, the Brazilian had hoped for years to finally get signed by the market leader. Since his last WSOF fight last December, Moraes has started to negotiate more intensely with the UFC and while the announcement of his debut fight took a while, having his first mission inside the octagon brings considerable relief.
"When things like this are happening, we get a little nervous because we want to go to the UFC and [we] want to fight," Moraes said. "But I think it happened right on time. I feel ready and I think everything comes at the right time. Sure, the toughest guys in MMA fight in the UFC. I want to fight the best and prove that I can be one of them. Everything arrived on time. I was going to have the opportunity to fight [..] a good opponent. That was exactly what happened. Now I feel ready to go out into the UFC."
Despite being happy to finally be a part of the most renowned MMA promotion in the world, Moraes confessed debuting in front of a Brazilian crowd against a compatriot was not exactly what he had imagined. However, as Raphael Assuncao is regarded as one of the best fighters in the division, the task comes as a welcome surprise.
"It was not what I imagined," Moraes said. "We never like fighting a Brazilian, but he's an athlete who is also looking for the belt, in search of his best [performance]. We're professionals and we fight [in] the UFC. Raphael is a tough guy and we will do our best to go out there in search of our dreams."
His opponent has a special meaning for Moraes not only because he is his first foe in the UFC and one of the best fighters in his weight class but also because of his first name. Moraes has a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, and it shouldn't come as a surprise now that his son is named Raphael.
During the phone interview, that connection made itself known through an acoustic reminder.
"It's just you and your opponent and... Just a second, my boy has a car racing around here. The car noise won't turn off, I'll just place it here... Anyway, I was saying it's only me and my opponent in there..."