Marlon Moraes Doesn’t Want to Quit, ‘I’m Fighting the Best Guys in the World’

Even though he’s dealing with a six-bout losing skid, Marlon Moraes believes he still gets it.

It hasn’t been Moraes’ (23-12-1, 0-2 PFL) moment for a while now, but the Brazilian fighter still hopes to see the light sooner or later. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger acknowledges the difficulty of his recent losing streak, having faced top-ranked fighters in the UFC and PFL. However, he expresses his determination to continue fighting the best in the world and not take a step back to face lower-level competition. In his latest assignment, “Magic” lost to 2022 PFL 145-pound champion Brendan Loughnane via second-round technical knockout. Moraes acknowledges it was a tough matchup against a former champion that made him learn a lot. However, he remains positive and confident, stating that the tournament is still open and he can potentially face Loughnane again in the semifinals if he qualifies with a victory over Gabriel Braga on June 8.

“I'm fighting with the best guys in the world. It’s not easy to go in a row, fight the best of the best, and beat them all. I didn't take a step away and fought lower-level competition. I fought top-10 fighters in the UFC, and that's it. That's no excuse. That's what I do. I'm a fighter. I'll fight anyone. This is why not everybody fights. There are just a few fighters in the world who fight and more people that don't have the balls to challenge themselves. They don't fight. They just watch.”

(00:00) Intro
(01:04) Preparing for his next fight
(02:14) Facing Loughnane in his first 2023 matchup
(03:22) His main takeaway from the fight
(04:10) The adjustments he made
(04:51) Pushing for a finish over Flores
(05:56) Being on a six-bout skid
(07:29) Facing the best fighters in the world
(08:31) Whether he misses fighting in Brazil
(08:56) Outro