Marlon Moraes believes he should be next in line for a shot at the UFC bantamweight title.
Petr Yan is the newly minted UFC bantamweight champion. He captured the gold on July 11 with a fifth-round TKO victory over Jose Aldo. While many expected Aljamain Sterling to be a lock for the next 135-pound title opportunity, UFC president Dana White hasn’t committed to a number one contender.
Marlon Moraes Wants To Challenge Petr Yan
Moraes took to his Twitter account to put his name in the hat for a potential UFC bantamweight title shot.
“Congrats to the champ his last bout but the reality is I knocked out Aljo and Jimmy rivera, finished Assancuao, beat Aldo.
How anyone can tell me that I am not #1 contender? @danawhite @ufc.”
Moraes competed for the bantamweight championship back in June 2019. He was stopped by Henry Cejudo via TKO. Moraes rebounded with a split decision victory over Jose Aldo but despite the win, Aldo got the title opportunity against Yan.
While Sterling is widely viewed as a deserving contender, Moraes’ argument is that he’s the last man to beat “The Funkmaster.” Back in Dec. 2017, Moraes knocked out Sterling just over one minute into the fight.
Moraes hasn’t been in action since Dec. 2019. While UFC president Dana White hasn’t listed who would be in the running for the bantamweight gold, one would imagine that Sterling and Moraes are on that list. One can’t rule out Cody Garbrandt either given his feud with Yan and his perceived edge in marketability.
Who do you think should be the first title challenger for Petr Yan’s bantamweight gold?
