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 prospect Joe Pyfer has called for a rematch with Dustin Stoltzfus following the latter’s KO win over Marc-André Barriault.
Over the course of the last few years, Joe Pyfer has emerged as a really interesting contender at middleweight. However, it’s safe to say that he hasn’t had everything go his way. In addition to a defeat against Jack Hermansson back in February, his first Contender Series appearance against Dustin Stoltzfus ended with him sustaining an injury.
The UFC was in Alberta, Canada for UFC Edmonton with a ranked flyweight matchup headlining the card as Brandon Moreno took on Amir Albazi.
Moreno entered the fight coming off back-to-back split decision losses including dropping his title to Alexandre Pantoja. Albazi, meanwhile, was fighting for the first time since November of 2023, and had gone 5-0 in his UFC career.
Tyron Woodley doesn’t think Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson is the squash match that many people are making it out to be.
Paul and Tyson are set to box on Friday, November 15 at AT&T Stadium, which is the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The bout is set to air on Netflix and is an intriguing matchup.
It appears that Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 is official for UFC 311 in January.
The lightweight champion hasn’t been seen in the cage since a clash with Dustin Poirier in June. In the main event of UFC 302, Islam Makhachev entered the octagon as a massive betting favorite against ‘The Diamond’. While the challenger offered some resistance, the Russian emerged with a fifth-round submission victory.
UFC welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov has no issue fighting Ian Garry if he needs to.
‘Nomad’ is in a bit of a weird spot at the moment. Shavkat Rakhmonov last appeared in the cage last December, submitting longtime contender Stephen Thompson on the UFC 296 main card. Following that victory, he was booked to face Belal Muhammad in his first shot at welterweight gold. However, that fight’s no longer happening.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic believes most fans want to see him fight Jon Jones.
The 42-year-old hasn’t been seen in the cage since a second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in early 2021. Due to the destructive nature of the defeat, some assumed Stipe Miocic would never fight again. However, over three years later, he’s set to return at UFC 309 opposite Jon Jones.
Shavkat Rakhmonov is hoping to remain on UFC 310 and wants to fight for the interim title.
Rakhmonov was supposed to headline UFC 310 against Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title but the champ suffered an injury that forced him to withdraw. Although Rakhmonov could wait for the title shot, he wants to remain active and calls to fight Kamaru Usman for the interim title.
Renowned American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez has some big praise for Khamzat Chimaev.
While Chimaev dazzled MMA fans with his red hot UFC start, illnesses halted his momentum. Perhaps mother nature can only hope to contain “Borz,” as he bounced back to deliver the most impressive performance of his fighting career. He injured Robert Whittaker’s bottom teeth to the point where “The Reaper” was forced to tap out as soon as a face crank was applied.
