Ex-WSOF champ, UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes retires

Marlon Moraes is hanging up the four-ounce gloves following a difficult stretch in which he lost his last four fights by knockout or technical knockout.

The former World Series of Fighting champion and UFC title challenger announced his retirement through a statement released by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

“I want to thank everyone – Sean Shelby, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities,” Moraes wrote. “I want to thank my family, my coaches, my manager, everybody who has been around and been part of my career. I’m still gonna be around the sport helping young guys and helping my friends. I also want to say thank you to Mark Henry, Ricardo Almeida, Frankie Edgar and Anderson França.”

Moraes last appeared at UFC Fight Night 203, where he suffered a first-round KO defeat to Yadong Song on March 12. Prior to that, the 33-year-old American Top Team representative suffered successive TKO losses at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili, Rob Font and Corey Sandhagen.

Moraes rose to prominence in WSOF, claiming the promotion’s 135-pound belt with a five-round decision win against Josh Rettinghouse on March 29, 2014. He posted an 11-0 record in the promotion, a mark that included five successful title defenses.

“Magic” joined the UFC in 2017 and was victorious in four of his first five appearances, earning wins over the likes of Aljamain Sterling, John Dodson, Raphael Assuncao and Jimmie Rivera. He received a shot at bantamweight gold at UFC 238, where he fell to Henry Cejudo via third-round TKO. That was part of a stretch in which Moraes went 1-5 to end his UFC career, although his lone victory during that stretch notably came against ex-featherweight king Jose Aldo.

Moraes exits the sport with a 23-10-1 career record.