The UFC 272 main event isn’t the only fight on the card with bad blood: Mariya Agapova and Maryna Moroz have a nasty backstory as well.
After nearly two years away from the octagon, Moroz returns this weekend at UFC 272. It’s not as if the 30-year old was on the sidelines just sitting out; she’s been training this whole time. Moroz has had four fights canceled during that stretch, and in an exclusive interview with Cageside Press, she explained the reason for her layoff and fight cancelations.
“People didn’t know why I didn’t fight for a long time. I didn’t have permit work documents, and I was stuck in Ukraine. COVID was so terrible. But I’m back after my visa stopped in America and I extended my documents,” Moroz said. “Many times my fight was canceled because of my work documents. The UFC tried to help me get to the octagon, but immigration canceled my permit.”
Moroz fights her former American Top Team teammate Agapova this Saturday, and there is some real bad blood between the two. Last year Moroz gave an interview to a Russian outlet and accused Agapova of several things, including drug use and making threats, which ultimately led to Agapova being kicked out of the gym. Agapova refuted the accusations, and after she defeated Sabina Mazo last year, she called for a fight with Moroz and said she wanted to punish her.
Moroz doubled down on her comments and called Agapova both “a liar” and “garbage.”
“First she said that I didn’t pay for my manager, it’s not true, I paid for everything, I have all documents. Second, she says, ‘I know she doesn’t have documents. She doesn’t want to fight.’ But it’s not true. I wanted the fight, but I didn’t have the [Visa] documents. She lied,” Moroz said. “What people don’t know is why I pulled out of the fight. Because I didn’t post anything, not say[ing anything]. I just said, ‘People, hey guys, I’m healthy and ready for fight,’ It’s not my fault. UFC tried to help me, but I didn’t say why. And she lied.”
“Before, I said she’s a dangerous person, and it’s true. She used drugs; we have all the proof: videos, screenshots, everything. And, of course, I didn’t post it. I don’t need to. I don’t need my Instagram showing garbage. This girl is garbage. I don’t want my Instagram looking like garbage. I show OnlyFans, beautiful pictures, but now I can show the journalists who is real and who is who. [Mariya] is a person who is a liar, very dangerous.”
Moroz continued, adding “In interviews, she’s ‘Oh, I’m nice girl; I’m training. Of course, she trains and trained at ATT, but she used drugs. She was crazy and talked too much. She is dangerous by saying she’d kill me and wants to cut my face. We have screenshots; we have everything.”
“I said in another interview that I did not want to work with [Mariya], and I’m not friends with her. She is crazy and a bad person. Maybe I go outside, and she makes something happen with the knife. I just say that it was scary, maybe she wanted me to make me injured in the gym… she has a problem with her brain because of drugs.”
Moroz said that teammates would tell her that Agapova wanted to hurt her during training, which was one of the numerous reasons she didn’t want to work with her. She will fight her, however — and the pair will finally settle their differences at UFC 272.
Watch our full interview with UFC 272’s Maryna Moroz above. The event takes place this Saturday, March 5, 2022 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
