Las Vegas, NV — Brazil’s Thiago Moises had been on a solid run in the UFC’s lightweight division, before running into current title contender Islam Makhachev.
Now, Moises (15-6), an American Top Team talent, will look to shake off back-to-back losses at UFC Vegas 57, where he takes on Christos Giagos.
“I learned a lot from those fights, especially with Islam,” Moises replied when asked about his losses — the other came against Joel Alvarez — during Wednesday’s UFC Vegas 57 media day. “I think I gave him a hard fight, especially if you see his fights against Bobby Green and Dan Hooker, that he finished easily. I think I have a lot of potential, just keep getting better, keep improving. I’m very young also.”
A silver lining, then. Moises also believes he strayed from the game plan in his last fight, against Alvarez, as well. “Look for the takedown, work my grappling,” he said regarding what the plan was. He got away from it “because the guy was so tall, it’s hard to punch like this [up].”
Getting back to improving, that is something Moises believes will come given where he trains. “At ATT, it’s impossible to not get better. There’s so many good guys, and everybody teaches you different stuff, and the coaches— you just get better every day.”
As for his match-up this Saturday with Giagos, “he fought great names, and he’s very well-rounded. He can fight on the ground, and he can strike also. I think it’s a tough fight, but I see me winning everywhere.”
“I expect it to be a tough battle, and I’m ready for war, for 15 minutes.”
In the corner of Moises this weekend will be Grant Dawson, a recent addition to American Top Team.
“He was a great addition to the team. He’s been a great training partner, and a great friend also,” Moises told Cageside Press when asked about Dawson. “He was there for me every training session, everything that I needed. He helped me get ready for this fight; it’s going to be great to have him also in my corner Saturday, so we can win, celebrate, and get back to training on Monday.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 57 media day appearance by Thiago Moises above.
