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At the young age of 33, Marlon Moraes shocked the fighting world when he decided to call it quits and retire from the sport of mixed martial arts earlier this afternoon.
The former UFC bantamweight title challenger has endured his worst ever run of form in MMA, having lost five of his last six fights. The 34-fight veteran came into the octagon as a highly-regarded 135lber, with many touting him to one day sit atop the division and hold gold in the promotion.
On April 13, Ali Abdelaziz, Marlon Moraes' manager, revealed that the Brazilian has opted to part ways with the UFC and retire from the sport.
Reporting the news on Twitter, MMA journalist John Morgan wrote::
"Per Ali Abdelaziz, former WSOF champ and UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes has retired from competition."
The American Top Team representative shared a statement following the news, saying:
"I want to thank everyone — Sean Shely, Dana White and the UFC for giving me so many opportunities. 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."
'Magic's retirement comes on the back of four consecutive knockout losses. His performances have noticeably dropped in recent years and his love for competing ultimately diminished as a result.
Marlon Moraes' legacy in MMA
Despite suffering a shaky start to his career with a 7-4-1 record, Marlon Moraes found his feet after signing with the World Series of Fighting, beginning his time under the company with a split decision win over Miguel Torres.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt had the most success between 2012-2016 as he fought his way to an 11-0 record with the promotion. During that time, he managed to be crowned the inaugural WSOF bantamweight champion, headlined four events, and was regarded as one of the best 135lbers in the world.
Although he was on the losing end of a split decision in his first outing for the UFC, Moraes pushed on and quickly caught the attention of the MMA world. A four-fight win streak, which saw him gain a spectacular knockout of Aljamain Sterling, earned him a shot at the title.
After gassing and losing to Henry Cejudo, the Brazilian outworked Jose Aldo to a controversial decision victory, before experiencing the losses that signaled his end in the sport.
