Former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes announces his retirement

Former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes (23-10-1) is hanging up his gloves for good. The 33 year old bantamweight’s manager Ali Abdelaziz sent out a memo this afternoon announcing that the bantamweight was retiring from the sport.

From MMA Fighting, the statement reads: “I want to thank everyone — Sean Shelby, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities,” Moraes said. “I wanna thank my family, my coaches, my manager, everybody who has been around and been part of my career. I want to say thank you to Mark Henry, Ricardo Almeida, Frankie Edgar, Anderson Franca and Hunter Campbell.”

The last time we saw Moraes inside the octagon was last month at a UFC Fight Night when he took on Song Yadong. Moraes was knocked out with a vicious uppercut in the first round.

The loss was the fourth straight loss for Marlon Moraes. It wasn’t just that Moraes had lost four straight inside the octagon, it was the fact that he was knocked out in all four of those losses.

Moraes’ UFC Legacy

Moraes joined the UFC in 2017 after a long reign in WSOF now known as the PFL. “Magic” Marlon was 18-4-1 and lost his first fight by split decision. However, after that loss, he really went on a run.

He won his next four fights in the UFC which included a knockout win over current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. After his fourth straight win, Moraes had a title shot against Henry Cejudo.

Through one round of that fight at UFC 238, it sure looked like Moraes was going to be champion. However, Cejudo wouldn’t go away and eventually broke Moraes. Moraes would go on to lose by third round TKO.

After that, he bounced back with a win over Jose Aldo. However, the majority of folks believe he lost that fight. That win against Aldo will go down as his final win in his mixed martial arts career.

Moraes’ UFC legacy will be one of promise but failure to reach the top of the mountain. He ends his UFC career with a record of 5-6 in 11 fights having lost his final four.