Tag: Marlon Moraes

UFC veterans in MMA and boxing action March 30-April 1

Check out which UFC veterans are in MMA and boxing action across the globe this weekend.

The UFC idle this week after a trip to San Antonio for UFC on ESPN 43, where [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] picked up a big bantamweight win over [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag].

Elsewhere, many other MMA events are taking place, including Bellator and PFL kicking off their 2023 regular season. Those events, and others feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

This week, there are a total of 32 veterans of the global MMA leader competing in MMA and boxing this week from March 30-April 1.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

Skidding Marlon Moraes feels indebted to fans to win at PFL 1, responds to calls for retirement

Marlon Moraes thinks he owes his fans a victory at 2023 PFL 1 and explains why retirement isn’t on his mind.

[autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] thinks he owes his fans a victory at 2023 PFL 1.

Moraes (23-11-1) will look to snap a five-fight losing skid when he faces 2022 PFL featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane (26-4) April 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The event will have a main card on ESPN and ESPN Deportes following prelims on ESPN+.

Rebounding against the promotion’s most recent champion will be a tough task, but Moraes wants to prove his doubters wrong and show that he can still compete at a high level.

“I’m excited for the season, and I feel like I’m in debt with some of my fans, and this is the mentality I’m coming with for 2023,” Moraes told MMA Junkie Radio. “I have so many people that support me, that like to see me performing, and I want to get in there starting April 1 and show to all these guys what I still can do, and I want to cement this season as – I don’t know if I’m going to be the champion at the end of the season, but one thing I’m going to do for sure is give so many good fights for my fans.”

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Having been knocked out in his past five fights, many have urged Moraes to hang up his gloves. But Moraes, who holds wins over former longtime UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, said he had a very tough road in the UFC and was never really given a rebound fight.

“I can’t wait to fight again, and a lot of people are questioning, ‘Should he fight? What’s he doing? It’s a tough fight.’ But I never had an easy fight,” Moraes said. “Since 2017 when I signed with the UFC, I faced Raphael (Assuncao) in my first fight. Raphael was top seven in the world and since then, I never faced an easy fight.”

He continued, “I just got a bad streak. The UFC didn’t want to give me an opening. They didn’t want to give me like Cody Garbrandt got (Trevin Jones) in the last fight, a get-back fight. I never got that get-back fight.”

MMA Junkie Radio #3343: Guest Marlon Moraes, Bellator 292 and UFC recaps, Benson Henderson, more

Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”


Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.

On Episode 3,343, the guys welcome guest [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag], who returns to the PFL on April 1. Plus, they recapped Bellator 292 and UFC Fight Night 221, discussed the latest news and more. Tune in!

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.

2022 champs Brendan Loughnane, Rob Wilkinson headline 2023 PFL 1 on April 1

Two of the PFL’s 2022 season winners will take their first steps toward hope of a repeat in April.

Two of the PFL’s 2022 season winners will take their first steps toward hope of a repeat in April.

The promotion’s first event of the 2023 regular season is set for April 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels (the former Hard Rock Hotel Casino) in Las Vegas. Featherweights and light heavyweights will be on the card for their first matchups of the two-fight regular season. The event will have a main card on ESPN and ESPN Deportes following prelims on ESPN+.

[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4), the 2022 featherweight winner, will be at the top of the bill in a matchup against [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1), the PFL announced Thursday. In the co-feature, 2022 light heavyweight winner [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2) will take on [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11).

Other matchups on the main card include 2021 season winner [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag] (19-0-1) vs. [autotag]Ryoji Kudo[/autotag] (11-4-1) at featherweight; 2022 runner-up [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] (19-6) vs. former finalist [autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag] (22-8) at featherweight; and [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag] (24-8-1) vs. [autotag]Will Fleury[/autotag] (11-3) at light heavyweight.

“The 2023 PFL regular season is shaping up for our best season yet, and I’m excited to watch our featherweight and light heavyweight divisions compete on April 1,” PFL president Ray Sefo said in a news release. “From returning PFL world champions to league debuts from MMA stars, fight fans across the world are in for a treat starting with PFL 1 in Las Vegas.”

The PFL’s second and third events of the 2023 regular season take place April 7 and April 14 from Las Vegas, as well.

Loughnane knocked out Jenkins in the fourth round this past November to win the 2022 featherweight season. He beat Kudo and Ago Huskic in the regular season, then beat Wade in the postseason semifinals. He has won 11 of 12 overall, including his $1 million finish of Jenkins.

Moraes will be looking to turn his career around. The former UFC bantamweight lost a vacant title shot against Henry Cejudo in June 2019, but rebounded with a win over former UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo later that year. After that, though, it’s been a struggle. He was knocked out in four straight fights by Cory Sandhagen, Rob Font, Merab Dvalishvili and Song Yadong and found himself outside the UFC by mid-2022. In his PFL debut this past November in a move to featherweight, he was stopped in the third round by a Sheymon Moraes TKO in a showcase fight.

Wilkinson hasn’t lost in five years – and it happened to be the UFC debut of future middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who knocked him out in the second round in Wilkinson’s native Australia. Since then, Wilkinson has won six straight, including his first four in the PFL in 2022 on his way to a TKO over Akhmedov to win the light heavyweight title this past November. All four of his PFL wins came by knockout or TKO.

Santos, a former UFC title challenger, has dropped five of his past six starting with his 205-pound title shot against Jon Jones in July 2019, which he lost by split decision. After that, he lost to eventual champion Glover Teixeira, then Aleksandar Rakic. He rebounded with a win over Johnny Walker in October 2021 before a loss to Magomed Ankalaev in March 2022 and a fourth-round TKO setback to new champ Jamahal Hill in August 2022. His fight with Wilkinson will be his PFL debut after nearly 10 years and 24 fights with the UFC.

The 2023 PFL 1 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN)

  • Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes – featherweight regular season
  • Robert Wilkinson vs. Thiago Santos – light heavyweight regular season
  • Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Ryoji Kudo – featherweight regular season
  • Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade – featherweight regular season
  • Omari Akhmedov vs. Will Fleury – light heavyweight regular season

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)

  • Krzysztof Jotko vs. TBA – light heavyweight regular season
  • Mohammed Fakhreddine vs. Marthin Hamlet – light heavyweight regular season
  • Sam Kei vs. Josh Silveira – light heavyweight regular season
  • Alejandro Flores vs. Daniel Torres – featherweight regular season
  • Sung Bin Jo vs. TBA – featherweight regular season

PFL announces main and co-main events for first three 2023 regular season cards

Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes, Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Shane Burgos are among the big fights to open the 2023 PFL season.

The PFL on Thursday announced three headliners and three co-headlining fights for the first three events of the 2023 regular season, which will kick off April 1 and run for three consecutive weeks at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

At 2023 PFL 1 on April 1, reigning featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4) will headline against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1). The co-main event will feature another former UFC title challenger as [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11) takes on 2022 light heavyweight champion [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2). The first event of the year is set to air on ESPN.

PFL 2 will take place April 7, headlined by 2022 PFL heavyweight champion [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] (23-5) taking on UFC veteran [autotag]Yorgan De Castro[/autotag] (9-3). The night’s co-main event will feature reigning women’s lightweight champion [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (19-4)  taking on former Bellator champion [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-5) in the promotion’s new women’s featherweight division. PFL 2 is set to air on ESPN 2.

Closing out the first half of the regular season with PFL 3 on April 14, the event will be headlined by reigning lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] (17-5) welcoming UFC veteran [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] (15-3), who was supposed to make his promotional debut last November but withdrew due to injury. The co-main event will pit 2022 welterweight champion [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] (13-6-2) against [autotag]Jarrah Al-Silawi[/autotag] (18-4). PFL 3 will air on ESPN 2.

Despite the official announcements by PFL, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, which represents Burgos and Loughnane, indicated on Twitter that his fighters had yet to agree to their respective bouts.

The entire lineups for all three events will be announced at a later date.

As in years past, the champions of all six divisions following two regular season bouts and playoffs will claim the title and grand prize of $1 million.

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2022 PFL Championships medical suspensions: 10 fighters ruled out indefinitely

The 2022 PFL Championships took place Friday in New York, and all 24 fighters on the card received medical suspensions.

The 2022 PFL Championships took place this past Friday at Hulu Theatre in New York and featured six $1 million title fights among other bouts.

Atop the card was a shocking upset, with [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] defeating [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] to claim the women’s lightweight title. Other championship winners included [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag], [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag], [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag], [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag], and Rob [autotag]Wilkinson[/autotag].

On Monday, the New York State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, released medical suspension durations to MMA Junkie, which show all 24 combatants suspended at least one week – with two fighters out 90 days. MMA Fighting first reported the suspensions.

The NYSAC has a policy against revealing the fighters’ specific injuries to the public.

See below to find out the medical suspension durations for the 2022 PFL Championships combatants. It’s important to note that athletes are allowed to return prior to completion of the suspension if they are cleared earlier by a doctor.

2022 PFL Championships live and official results

Check out the results from the 2022 PFL Championships, where six $1 million champs will be crowned in New York.

The final event of the 2022 PFL season takes place on Friday at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York, and MMA Junkie will keep you updated with live results throughout the event.

The 2022 PFL Championships event features 12 fights, including all six divisional finals for a $1 million grand prize.

In the main event, undefeated two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] (15-0) goes for a title three-peat at women’s lightweight when she clashes with [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (18-4), whom Harrison has already defeated twice before.

The co-headliner will see [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (24-4) and [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] (19-5) clash for the featherweight championship, while elsewhere on the card [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] (9-3) makes her promotional debut vs. former Bellator titleholder [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-4) at women’s featherweight, plus much more.

Full results of 2022 PFL Championship include:

2022 PFL Championships video: Sheymon Moraes hands Marlon Moraes fifth straight TKO loss

Marlon Moraes has been knocked out in five straight fights, but also what a comeback by Sheymon Moraes.

The skid continues for [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag], now across multiple promotions.

Pitched as a new beginning, his PFL debut had a similar end result to his final UFC bout. After two dominant rounds in his favor, Moraes (23-11-1) was finished by [autotag]Sheymon Moraes[/autotag] (15-6), who rallied for a TKO finish at the 0:58 mark of Round 3.

The featherweight fight took place as the featured prelim of 2022 PFL Championships, which took place Friday at Hulu Theater in New York.

The fight was a rematch of a bout between the two Moraes, which Marlon won in August 2015 under the World Series of Fighter banner.

Marlon utilized his grappling once again seven years later and found much success with his grappling. In brief exchanges on the feet, Marlon looked a step ahead of Sheymon.

Likely down 2-0, Sheymon rallied in Round 3 with his boxing. Sheymon first dropped Marlon with an overhand right. Sheymon pounced as Marlon went for a leg lock. Marlon left himself open for hammerfists, which Sheymon rained down. Marlon tried to shift back to his feet, but Sheymon cranked him with another punch, which caused referee Bryan Miner to step in.

The loss for Marlon is his fifth in a row. All five have come by knockout. Following his final UFC fight in March, a knockout loss to Sond Yadong, Moraes announced his retirement. However, he resurfaced months later with PFL and moved up from bantamweight to featherweight.

Up-to-the-minute 2022 PFL Championships results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Championships.

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UFC veterans in MMA and bareknuckle action Nov. 25-26

Check out which veterans of the UFC are in action this week.

This week, the UFC is idle following UFC Fight Night 215 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Elsewhere, there are a number of MMA and bareknuckle events taking place that feature familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

These 14 veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA and boxing this week from Nov. 25-26.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

Marlon Moraes gets new opponent for PFL debut after Shane Burgos’ withdrawal

Marlon Moraes has a new opponent.

[autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] has a new name for his PFL debut.

The former UFC title challenger will take on [autotag]Sheymon Moraes[/autotag] in a rematch at the 2022 PFL Championships in New York on Nov. 25. This change comes after ex-UFC fighter Shane Burgos was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury. The new matchup will still take place at 145 pounds.

PFL officially announced the news of the new bout on Monday evening on social media.

The pair fought seven years ago at WSOF 22. They competed for the WSOF bantamweight title, a fight in which Marlon came out the victor by third-round rear-naked choke.

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Marlon (23-10-1), a former World Series of Fighting champion, is looking to bounce back from a four-fight losing streak, which marked the end of his UFC career. The Brazilian last recorded a win in December 2019 when he edged out Jose Aldo in a split decision at UFC 245.

On the other hand, Sheymon (14-6) is looking to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to Lance Palmer back in June. The defeat snapped a three-fight winning streak for the former UFC fighter.

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