In the middle of last week, long time World Series of Fighting and UFC veteran Marlon Moraes announced that he was retiring from MMA competition. I said this not too long ago when I talked about Ben Rothwell, but I want to take the time to acknowledge the older fighters on their way out and this is an opportunity to do so. Moraes had been having a really rough go of it over the last couple of years and it had led a lot of people to suggest that retirement was near. I think after his last fight that even I hoped that he would call it a career in order to preserve his long term health. These are the type of early retirements that make me sad in a different way. A lot of times in MMA, we see older fighters who just don't have it any more and the fights themselves are really sad to watch. Someone like BJ Penn comes to mind. Marlon Moraes was not one of those fighters. What was sad about watching Marlon is that he still had a lot of the skills required to be a very high level fighter. His technical striking acumen and speed was still there. Maybe he wasn't quite as fast or powerful as he was in his prime, but he was still plenty good and fast enough to land his own strikes in a meaningful way. We saw this not too long ago against Merab Dvalishvili. He had Merab on the ropes in significant way in the early going of that fight. He was unable to get the finish and ended up gassing out, but that still showed that his offensive abilities were there. Unfortunately for Marlon, his chin was just no longer holding up. All of the other skills sort of fall victim to the fact that Marlon just wasn't able to take a shot in a way that allowed him to really get into a fight. I imagine that has to be so frustrating for a fighter because you know you can still compete, but there's just one thing that holds you back. When the entire skillset starts to fade, that has to be a much easier pill to swallow, at least in my head. With that said, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about the career of Marlon Moraes and wish him well in whatever the future has in store for him.
Moraes made his professional debut back in 2007 in Brazil. He would fight to a record of 7-4-1 before going to the World Series of Fighting where he would really start to gain some momentum and some mainstream attention. Moraes went 11-0 in his time in the WSOF, which included winning their inaugural bantamweight championship and successfully defending it 5 times. He made his UFC debut in 2017 at UFC 212 in a fight that he would lose to Raphael Assuncao. He would go on to win his next four in a row over John Dodson, Aljamain Sterling, Jimmie Rivera, and Raphael Assuncao in their rematch. He parlayed that win streak into a shot at the vacant bantamweight title, which he would lose to Henry Cejudo. He won his next fight in a controversial split decision over Jose Aldo before the four fight losing streak that brought his career to an end. At his best, Moraes was an incredibly dynamic striker who's combination of speed and technique was a tough night out for anyone in the world.
The last thing I want to do is just go over my favorite memory of Marlon Moraes as a way to sort of commemorate his career in the only way I know how. I always come back to what Michael Chandler said on the MMA Hour, people don't always remember the wins and losses, but they remember how you made them feel and I hope that Marlon can take comfort in that. He never got the UFC title, but he provided all of us with some great memories and he put himself and his body through hell to do it. I can't say that I was at the level of fandom required to watch the WSOF events as they were happening, so those fights don't hold as much significance to me on a personal level. My best memories of Marlon Moraes are from the run he went on to get the title shot and how he was finishing everyone on his path. It started with the devastating knockout of Aljamain Sterling, which knowing how that win looks now, is probably my favorite moment for Marlon. Having that kind of a win over a guy who would eventually become champion is a really nice mark on his resume. He then got the high kick knockout over Rivera and the submission against Assuncao that took him into the fight with Henry.
I'll finish this up with just a few words incase Marlon himself or someone close to him or his team see this for whatever reason. In the end, I'm glad Marlon was in a place where he could make a decision for his own health and best interest and not based on the money. I think I speak for most of the real MMA fans when I say that we all love and respect Marlon for what he was able to do and the memories he gave us. Congratulations to Marlon Moraes on a great career and I personally look forward to whatever he has planned for his new life. Best of luck in the future and thanks for everything.
What do you guys think? What is your favorite Marlon Moraes fight or moment? Leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading. Have a good one.
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