When Brandon Moreno steps into the Octagon later this month for his UFC flyweight title fight, he will do so without longtime coach James Krause in his corner.
Krause is currently banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission while under investigation for suspicious betting activities after one of Krause’s fighters, Darrick Minner, entered a November bout with an undisclosed injury. Following the NSAC’s announcement, the UFC issued a statement banning all fighters who continued to train under Krause. Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Morena shared his thoughts on the investigation and how it affected his training camp ahead of UFC 283.
“It’s crazy how a lot of people try to be very sensitive and I really appreciate it with James and all that stuff. It was hard when everything started of course. Everything was a little bit hard. I was actually in Kansas City when the news came on social media so I had a long conversation with James. He told me all the situation and I understood them, but in that moment, I decided to turn the page quickly decide what I wanted to do.
“I remember the news was out Wednesday or Thursday so the next Monday, I was in Vegas. It was hard, but the good part… I mean, obviously, a lot of bad things happened, but the good part was the game plan was already done so I was ready to go by myself with my coaches. I go straight to Rio and take the fight.”
Coach Sayif about to hit the 80 win mark in the UFC and will be heading to Brazil next week 🔥 congratulations on team of the year 🙏 @fortismma @brandonmoreno@sayif_saud pic.twitter.com/T7neeY2vTi
— Fernie Garcia (@teamfgarcia) January 8, 2023
Brandon Moreno Gets Some Help From Fortis MMA Head Coach Sayif Saud
Though Brandon Morena was done with the game planning for his highly anticipated clash with Deiveson Figueiredo on January 21, ‘The Assassin Baby’ felt it would be best to have someone with experience to help guide him through the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career. Enter Sayif Saud, the head coach of Fortis MMA.
“He came to Vegas, we trained together. He told me all his thoughts about the fight and all of his mentality about the game plan and all that stuff. I feel very comfortable with him which was very simple to work with him. I decided to work with him and we closed this training camp in the best way possible. My sparring looks very sharp. My cardio is on point. I have a few tricks for Deiveson in the next fight. I’m ready.”
Despite the difficult circumstances with his longtime coach under investigation, ‘The Assassin Baby’ insists that his training camp going into UFC 283 this month was the best camp of his life thus far.
“This training camp I feel like is the best training camp of my life. It was hard, but at the same time, was a very smart training camp.”
Brandon Moreno will meet Deiveson Figueiredo for an unprecedented fourth time in the co-main event of the evening on January 21 at UFC 283 in Rio.
