Former World Series of Fighting champ and UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes has opted to retire from MMA.
The Brazilian fighter’s manager revealed the news to multiple media outlets, including TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter on Wednesday.
In a statement provided to TSN, Moraes (23-10-1) showed his appreciation to both the UFC, and those who helped him along the way in his 15-year career.
“I want to thank everyone. Sean Shelby, Hunter Campbell, Dana White & the UFC for giving me so many opportunities. I want to thank my family, coaches, manager, everybody who has been part of my career. I’m still going to be around MMA helping young guys, and my friends.”
“I also want to say thank you to Mark Henry, Ricardo Almeida, Frankie Edgar and Anderson França.”
Moraes, 33, captured the WSOF title and defended it five times before joining the UFC in 2017. While the promising free agent signing would drop a split decision to Rafael Assuncao in his octagon debut, he’d win his next four fights — earning Performance of the Night bonuses in three of them.
That bonus streak included a submission of Assuncao in the pair’s rematch, which in turn led to a shot at gold against Henry Cejudo, for the then-vacant UFC 135lb belt in 2019.
“Magic” Moraes would end up finished in the third round by the man who would then become “Triple C” — and his career never really got back on track. In his very next fight, Moraes picked up a split decision win over Jose Aldo, but most saw the fight going the other way — to the point that Aldo was awarded a title shot off a loss.
Moraes, meanwhile, wound up on a four-fight skid from which he would never recover. Losses to Cory Sandhagen, Rob Font, Merab Dvalishvili, and most recently Song Yadong quickly piled up, with the Yadong loss coming in March of this year.
Starting his career strong, Moraes built up an 18-4-1 record prior to joining the UFC. He finishes his career with notable wins over Josh Hill, Tyson Nam, Sheymon Moraes, Aljamain Sterling, John Dodson, and others.
