Brazil’s Thiago Moises will enter UFC Vegas 9 coming off what is almost certainly the biggest fight of his career. That came back in May, when Moises, a former RFA and LFA lightweight champion, submitted Michael “The Menace” Johnson with an Achilles Lock.
At least one publication awarded Moises the Submission of the Month, and against steep competition including Mackenzie Dern making some history.
“I’m very happy for my last fight, it was a big win against a veteran like Michael Johnson,” Moises (13-4) told Cageside Press during this week’s UFC Vegas 9 media day.
After the win, he got back in the gym, and went right back to honing his skills. “I can’t wait to show Saturday what I’ve been working on,” he exclaimed, looking ahead to his bout with Jalin Turner.
Also known as “The Tarantula,” Turner is a tall, long fighter who is plenty dangerous. “He’s a great fighter, great striker. Dangerous on the feet,” Moises observed. “Has a longer reach, he’s very tell. I think that’s his strength.”
With that in mind, Moises has been training with a taller figher himself to prepare. That would be one Violent Bob Ross. “Jalin Turner is a very tall fighter. So I trained with Luis Pena, who is the same height as Jalin,” Moises revealed. “I’m very used to it, training with guys his size.”
Saying that he’d give his best, the plan, said Moises, is that “I’m going to try to close the distance, get the fight to the ground, and finish him.”
He’s fully confident that training camp has prepared him to do just that. Moises has been training at American Top Team since he was 17 years old, he noted. “We have great fighters at American Top Team. I think we are the best team in the world. Every fight, nobody’s going to bring anything different from what we already have in the training room.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 9 media day press scrum with Thiago Moises above. The event takes place this Saturday, September 5 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV, airing live on ESPN+ (TSN in Canada).
