Marlon Moraes believes he owes his fans the victory at 2023 PFL 1.
Moraes (23-11-1) will look to break a five-fight losing streak when he faces 2022 PFL Featherweight Champion Brendan Lofnain (26-4) on April 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The event will have a main card on ESPN and ESPN Deportes after prelims on ESPN+.
Rebounding against the promotion’s latest champion will be a difficult task, but Moraes wants to prove his doubters wrong and show he can still compete at a high level.
“I’m looking forward to the start of the season and I feel indebted to some of my fans and it’s with that mindset that I’m going into 2023,” Moraes told MMA Junkie Radio. “I have so many people who support me who love to watch me perform and I want to get there from April 1st and show all these guys what I can do and I want to cement this season as – I don’t I know if I’m going to be champion at the end of the season, but one thing is for sure, I’m going to put on so many good fights for my fans.”
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After being knocked out in his last five fights, many called for Moraes to hang up his gloves. But Moraes, who has victories over former longtime UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling to his credit, said he had a very difficult path in the UFC and was never given a rebounding fight.
“I can’t wait to fight again and a lot of people are wondering, ‘Should he fight? What is 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 Rafael (Assuncao) in my first fight. Rafael went into the top 7 in the world and since then I have never faced an easy fight.”
He continued, “I just have a bad streak. The UFC didn’t want to give me a chance. They didn’t want to give me, like Cody Garbrandt (Trevin Jones) in the last fight, a rematch. I never had that rematch.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
