On today’s show, top bantamweight contender @MMARLONMORAES said he felt “a little bit embarrassed” to see the bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw lose the way he did on Saturday night.
“I just feel a little bit embarrassed, you know?” Marlon Moraes said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show when speaking of TJ Dillashaw’s loss to Henry Cejudo. “Being a 135er and having our champion going down and losing… Because I’m a ’35er, he’s going down, representing us and he lost.
“I have a lot of friends at 125-pounds, I think the 125-pound division should stick around and they have a lot of guys. I think Henry, he fought and he was there representing all these guys. I wasn’t happy, because I’m happy when I win, and I love to watch those good fighters fighting but I was kind of cheering for Henry to win.”
Arguably next in line for a title shot at 135-pounds in the bantamweight division is the former World Series of Fighting champion, ‘Magic’ Marlon Moraes.
This didn’t stop Moraes from being highly invested in the champion vs champion bout that his division’s titleholder TJ Dillashaw recently participated in opposite flyweight king Henry Cejudo.
Needing only 32-seconds to close the show, Cejudo would reign supreme and earn his first title defense. But by defeating another champion in the process, it now throws things into questioning for Moraes’ future.
The rematch with Assuncao is as clear as it gets when it comes to No. 1 contender fights and the winner should undeniably be getting a crack at Dillashaw’s title.
Ultimately, they may have to end up waiting now that Dillashaw has lost to the champion in the division below him which could lead the UFC to make a rematch for Dillashaw’s title.
How the situation will sort itself out remains to be determined, but regardless, Moraes will need to pick up the win in two weeks.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/21/2019
UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape has responded to Kai Kara-France.
‘Starboy’ is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC Tampa over the weekend. Back for the first time since a loss to Muhammad Mokaev in July, Manel Kape met the rising Bruno da Silva. ‘Bulldog’ entered the fight riding a four-fight winning streak, but was battered over the weekend. Kape wound up handing the Brazilian a third-round knockout loss.
Daniel Cormier believes he knows the deciding factor in how Colby Covington recovers from suffering back-to-back losses.
Covington stepped inside the Octagon for the final UFC event and fight of 2024. He went one-on-one with surging welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley. Covington’s chin was certainly on display and he ate some hard shots from Buckley, who was as crisp as ever in the standup. While “Chaos” found a little bit of success with his grappling in round two, the damage from “New Mansa” was evident.
One former UFC titleholder believes Khamzat Chimaev would be able to dethrone the current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Rumors have been swirling since Pereira took to social media to claim that Magomed Ankalaev will not be his next title challenger. Some have speculated that Chimaev will move up from 185 pounds to challenge Pereira for the gold at light heavyweight.
UFC star Conor McGregor has mocked Logan Paul in a recent social media post as talk of a boxing match between them intensifies.
Nobody ever truly knows what Conor McGregor is going to do next. The Irishman is an absolute enigma in the world of mixed martial arts, and that’ll likely continue to be the case for as long as he’s involved in the fight game. Recently, he’s been teasing the idea of a blockbuster boxing match between himself and Logan Paul.
Dan Hooker vs Justin Gaethje is reportedly being considered for a huge possible lightweight collision in the UFC next year.
When you’re talking about the most entertaining fighters in the game, Dan Hooker and Justin Gaethje have to be in the conversation. Throughout the course of their entire careers, they have put on some of the most incredible scraps imaginable. From violent knockouts to all-out wars, these two know how to do it all.
Gilbert Burns has responded to Colby Covington’s callout.
After Burns leaked Chael Sonnen’s phone number, who is now Covington’s coach, ‘Chaos’ called out the Brazilian for his next fight. Covington said he wanted to get payback for Sonnen and felt like that fight also made sense.
UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington wants to fight Gilbert Burns on Chael Sonnen’s behalf.
‘Chaos’ is fresh off his return to the octagon in the main event of UFC Tampa last Saturday night. Back for the first time since a loss to Leon Edwards last year, Colby Covington stepped up on short notice to face Joaquin Buckley. ‘New Mansa’ entered the bout riding a wave of momentum, last scoring a knockout win over Stephen Thompson in October.
Despite his loss to Alexandre Pantoja, Kai Asakura remains confident that he’ll become UFC flyweight champion.
The former RIZIN bantamweight champion is fresh off his UFC debut earlier this month in Las Vegas. Back for the first time since a knockout win over Juan Archuleta in December, Kai Asakura faced Alexandre Pantoja. The Japanese star got a rare title shot in his promotional debut, given the champion’s dominance over the flyweight division.
