UFC 238 is now hours away and in the main event Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes will do battle for the vacant UFC bantamweight championship. Are you ready?? Because Marlon Moraes is. Tonight, he will be stepping into the Octagon to face off against the #4 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, and Moraes’s sights couldn’t be clearer:
“This is how [Cejudo] is,” Moraes told MMAFighting. “We’re two fighters and two guys aiming to be a champion. One who needs to win another belt and a guy coming up – he’s going up a division and I’m going to welcome him and that’s that. He knows how good I am and I know how good he is. So, let’s go. We’re going to scrap and I’m ready to win and become the new bantamweight champion.”
One particular technique that has led to Cejudo’s recent success is the implementation of a karate-style stance that Cejudo debuted against Wilson Reis at UFC 215 in September of 2017. Cejudo would pick up his first KO victory in the UFC in that fight and he has not lost since. Moraes response to this revamped style of Cejudo? Laughter.
“Man, if he stands too much like that, he’s going to pay,” Moraes said with laughter. “I’m ready to anywhere and wherever the fight goes. If we strike, I’m ready to strike. If we grapple I’m ready to grapple. I’m ready to be a champion and I was built in this camp to get there and be the best Marlon you’ve ever seen. Every question has the right answer.”
And the answer to the question of who will succeed T.J. Dillashaw as the new UFC bantamweight champion? Moraes has that answer to as well:
“My focus is on Henry Cejudo,” Moraes said.… I’m fighting a champion and well-rounded guy. But I’m definitely going to finish him. I’m not in a rush. So I’m going to take my time and finish him at the right time.”
Is Marlon Moraes your next UFC bantamweight champion?
