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
A former UFC champion believes that Islam Makhachev has taken the title of lightweight GOAT from Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Makhachev is ready to move on from 155 pounds. UFC CEO Dana White recently announced that Makhachev will be vacating the UFC Lightweight Championship to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight gold. Makhachev ends his run at 155 pounds with the most successful UFC lightweight title defenses.
UFC star Charles Oliveira has promised a big performance when he goes head to head with Ilia Topuria at UFC 317.
As announced earlier this week, Charles Oliveira will challenge for the UFC lightweight championship once again. He will do so in the main event of UFC 317 against Ilia Topuria, who has officially made the move up to the lightweight division. While everyone knows that ‘Do Bronx’ has a chance, Topuria is widely considered to be the favorite to walk away with the belt in this encounter.
UFC star Ilia Topuria has issued an apology ahead of his recently announced UFC 317 main event against Charles Oliveira.
As we know, Ilia Topuria is making the move up to lightweight in pursuit of a second world title. Now, we also know that he’s going to be challenging for the championship straight away. He’ll lock horns with Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317, and many believe he has a great chance at winning the title. Of course, getting through someone like ‘Do Bronx’ is going to be no easy task, and Ilia knows that.
Alexander Volkanovski is the latest fighter to question the judges after Jose Aldo’s controversial defeat at UFC 315.
Last weekend, Jose Aldo competed for what was likely the final time in mixed martial arts. He squared off against Aiemann Zahabi in a brutal encounter and in the end, he lost via decision. While some thought it was a fair call from the judges, a lot of fans and pundits alike heavily questioned it, suggesting that Jose was the clear winner of the contest.
Jack Hermansson will finally make his return to the Octagon at UFC 317 at the end of June.
Hermansson last fought in February of 2024 when he beat Joe Pyfer by decision in a five-round main event. After that fight, Hermansson suffered some injuries that forced him to be on the sidelines and not be able to fight.
UFC CEO Dana White has plenty of confidence that Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall will happen.
White announced the UFC 317 and UFC 319 main events, and neither is Jones defending his heavyweight title. Many fans were hoping Jones vs Aspinall would headline the International Fight Week on June 29 in Las Vegas, but that won’t happen as White announced the main event would be Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira.
UFC CEO Dana White has officially announced Ilia Topuria will take on Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.
International Fight Week is always one of the biggest events of the year, but the promotion had yet to announce the headliner. A key reason why was that Islam Makhachev, the lightweight champion, wanted to see how the main event played out, as if Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad, he would be moving up to welterweight.
Dricus Du Plessis is finally set to defend the UFC middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev.
The two fighters will meet in the main event of UFC 319, which is slated for August 16, according to the promotion’s CEO Dana White.
