John Dodson vs Marlon Moraes Added to Surprisingly Stacked UFC Norfolk Card

Sometimes, those small UFC events in between the big pay-per-views reward us with a load of combat violence that makes being a fan all worth while. In November, after the smoke from Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre has cleared, the UFC touches down in Norfolk, Virginia for a pretty killer free card. Just added last night, John Dodson will take on former World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes in a big test for both fighters.

There might be someone ready to fight me. More details coming soon. pic.twitter.com/TNEDqBQSK1

— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) August 31, 2017

The Lucky dude I get to fight is @mmarlonmoraes for the #ufcnorfolk let's get excited. #Theresnomagicwithoutamagician pic.twitter.com/RIWGOzOJQN

— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) September 1, 2017

Marlon Moraes (#10) risked his 13-fight win streak to test his skills in the UFC. Unfortunately, he lost a close split-decision to Raphael Assuncao in his debut, who was ranked in the top five at the time. John Dodson (#8), multiple time flyweight title challenger, has recent wins over Eddie Wineland and Manny Gamburyan. This is a fight between two compact, lightning-fast bantamweights to see who inches closer to a title shot.

Once you start reading the rest of the card, you realize this is a sleeper of a fight card. Diego Sanchez moving back up to welterweight to fight Matt Brown is sure to bring fireworks. Joe Lauzon always puts on an exciting fight, but against Clay Guida is guaranteed to be frantic. To top it all off, Anthony Pettis is back to lightweight again to fight Dustin Poirier. Let’s hope this card stays together.

Got that creative flow with @sixgungibson last night and today I got to put it to work. #Letsplay pic.twitter.com/ANXGmKd6bY

— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) August 29, 2017

The UFC Fight Night 120 Card so far:

• Dustin Poirier vs Anthony Pettis
• Matt Brown vs Diego Sanchez
• John Dodson vs Marlon Moraes
• Angela Hill vs Nina Ansaroff
• Clay Guida vs Joe Lauzon
• Nathan Marquardt vs Cezar Ferreira
• Darren Stewart  vs Karl Robinson
• Jake Collier vs Marcel Fortuna
• Andrei Arlovski vs Junior Albini
• Court McGee vs Sean Strickland

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/1/2017.