Marlon Moraes is making a case for some UFC fighters to join PFL.
For a long time, Marlon Moraes was one of the top UFC bantamweights. He earned himself a title shot and was considered a top contender for many years. He fought some of the best there was in the division but ultimately fell short of the championship. In early 2022, Moraes decided that he had had enough in the UFC and announced his retirement. His time away did not last that long however and returned later that same year to join The Professional Fighters League.
The PFL has become a popular landing stop for former UFC fighters. Many of them have spoken out about the benefits of fighting in that promotion including the chance at a one million dollar prize at the end. Moraes is happy with his decision to join PFL and spoke about why on a recent episode of The MMA Hour.
“I was in a bad spot. Even mentally and like, man, things were not just not going my way. You know, I had fights in my hand and I just let it slip it and but I know I have the talent. I know I have the skills. But I didn’t feel like UFC anymore,” he said. “At some point when we’re not in UFC we think all UFC, UFC, UFC, and then when you in the UFC, you’re like man, the world it’s not just the UFC. Although MMA is bigger than UFC and we have to put in our minds because sometimes people complain. I fight MMA, but people say do you do UFC?”
Marlon Moraes is urging UFC fighter Tony Ferguson to follow in his footsteps
Moraes spoke about some of the issues he has with how the UFC is run. He feels that many fighters are overlooked for title shots simply because they are not big enough draws. He spoke about Tony Ferguson and Arnold Allen specifically saying how they deserved title shots at some point but were perhaps passed over due to other fighters’ social media followings.
“It’s not like I’m gonna pick this guy because he sells pay-per-views, because his hair color is gray, because he jokes around, he has 10 million followers on Instagram or Twitter. If you’re best on the season, you’re gonna win you know, that’s all about fighting,” he said. “If the UFC wants that’s how it was nowadays. Everything changed, I see guys that like Tony Ferguson all his career fighting, fighting, winning, winning, winning he didn’t get the belt, he won, but he didn’t get the shot, how? And guys go there two, three fights and fight for the belt.”
Moraes urges fighters to get past the name value of the UFC and start to look at other promotions such as PFL for big money opportunities. Another former UFC fighter who recently made the switch was Shane Burgos, who spoke publically about the purse increase he will get with PFL over the UFC.
