Premature Stoppage?

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Marlon Moraes saw his hopes of getting back to another Bantamweight championship fight go out the window after he was knocked out by Cory Sandhagen in the main event of last night’s (Sat., Oct. 10, 2020) UFC Fight Island 5 event in Abu Dhabi (see it again here).

Afterward, UFC’s Karyn Bryant caught up with “Magic” backstage where he discussed the loss and whether or not he felt referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight a bit too early.

“I just got caught. I was doing good first round. I was excited for this fight but unfortunately I got caught. I caught a lot of guys before and that was my day. I thought we had a good first round, I won the round,” he said. “Then he catch me with a kick, bloodied my eye a bit and right after he came the other way and that’s it, you know,” he added.

After he was dropped by “The Sandman’s” dazzling kick, he was the recipient of a few follow up shots, prompting Goddard to put an end to the fight. Obviously the great debate afterward was whether or not he was bit overzealous, which Moraes obviously thinks he was.

“Probably a little early stoppage, but, whatever. The ref just jumped on me, didn’t have enough time to get up,” he added. “But this is prizefighting. We put on a show. One guy win, one guys loses and today was not my day.”

While Sandhagen now waits to see if and when division champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling battle it out so he can face the winner, Moraes is eyeing a quick turnaround. Indeed, the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) champion is hoping to get a fight in December to close out the year.

Do you have a suggestion — or three — as to who would be a good comeback fight for “Magic?”

For complete UFC Fight Island 5: “Moraes vs. Sandhagen” results and play-by-play, click HERE!