Marlon Moraes talks about "war" against Cory Sandhagen, another UFC Bantamweight Title shot
Marlon Moraes came up short in his UFC Bantamweight title fight against Henry Cejudo last year, losing via TKO.
Regardless, Moraes returned to the win column with a split decision victory over MMA legend Jose Aldo, albeit with many in the MMA community opining that the latter ought to have been awarded that decision.
Marlon Moraes expects a war against Cory Sandhagen; aims to secure stoppage victory and title shot
Speaking to BJPenn.com, Marlon Moraes opened up on a myriad of topics. Moraes addressed the rather frustrating experiences he’s been through as of late.
The Brazilian striking savant noted that he was frustrated about Jose Aldo being accorded a title shot against Petr Yan, despite the fact that he’d just defeated the former. Additionally, Moraes recalled that he was looking forward to fighting former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt, however, the latter ended up moving down to the Flyweight division.
Moraes pointed out that he didn’t have any other fights that’d make sense for him, particularly since Cory Sandhagen lost to Aljamain Sterling in a fight that didn’t even last a couple of minutes.
Marlon Moraes continued that he’d beaten Sterling a couple of years back in dominant fashion and that, in turn, made a potential fight with Sterling unappealing. He concurred, however, that Sandhagen is one of the best fighters in the world right now and a fight against the latter is an opportunity for him to display his skills.
Apparently, Sandhagen is currently a slight favorite to win their upcoming fight and needless to say, Moraes disagrees with the oddsmakers in that regard. Furthermore, Moraes chimed in with his take on Sandhagen’s reach and height advantage, noting that the latter is rangy and knows how to use it to his advantage.
Moraes stressed that he’s prepared to get past Sandhagen’s reach, get inside, and inflict damage upon the latter. The talented Bantamweight fighter added that it likely wouldn’t be easy, but he will indeed make Sandhagen pay every time he hits him. Moreover, Moraes expressed his belief that over the course of his five-round fight against Sandhagen there’s a strong possibility that the fight could end up on the ground.
Moraes emphasized that he aims to secure a stoppage victory over Sandhagen and then win another fight in December, in order to firmly establish himself as the No. 1 contender for the UFC Bantamweight title. However, Moraes did add that a stoppage victory over Sandhagen could perhaps earn him a title shot right away and help him leapfrog Aljamain Sterling in that regard. Moraes stated:
“Hopefully, I can get another one. I want October than December.
“I’m healthy and want to get in there on October 10, have a war and after that, we will see. I want to get back in December.”
Marlon Moraes noted that one is only remembered for one's most recent fight, and with that said, his objective is to put on a good performance and wait to see how the future developments unfold.
Marlon Moraes is looking to win the UFC Bantamweight Championship
Presently, Marlon Moraes is one of the most skilled and well-rounded fighters in the UFC Bantamweight division.
Moraes most definitely has both the skills and experience to best his opponent, Cory Sandhagen.
On that note, it’d be interesting to see how Marlon Moraes approaches a fight against reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan, who’s a downright terrifying knockout artist with excellent cardio and durability.
Marlon Moraes or Cory Sandhagen - which fighter do you feel will walk away with their hand raised at UFC Fight Island 5? Sound off in the comments.