Marlon Moraes Says It ‘Makes Sense’ For Jose Aldo To Fight Him

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes still hopes to face Jose Aldo for his next outing.

With the news of Aldo stating he wanted to move down and potentially face champion Henry Cejudo, Moraes laid out the challenge to face his fellow compatriot last month. Moraes last faced Cejudo in the main event of UFC 238 for the vacant bantamweight title.

Despite starting off promisingly, the Brazilian later gassed out with Cejudo later TKOing him to become a two-division champion. However, Moraes is past that defeat and is only looking to getting back in action as well as the win column.

And given his position in the rankings, he feels he is the perfect opponent to welcome Aldo into the division:

“It’s not like, ‘He’s the one calling out Aldo,’” Moraes told MMA Junkie. “It’s not like that. I have muito respect for Aldo. Aldo is a great fighter. What happened is, he wants to move down to 135. He’s a legend. If he fights once, everyone is going to say this guy has to fight for the belt. But I don’t think he deserves (that) fight now. And I don’t think Henry is ready now.

“I’m at the top, so it makes a lot of sense for him (to) move down and fight with me. I’m more than happy to welcome him to the division. I think we could put on a very good fight.”

That said, there are plenty of other fights that intrigue Moraes in what is becoming one of the most stacked and exciting divisions in the promotion:

“As a fighter and fan, the fans like to watch the best fighters fight each other,” Moraes added. “So if we’re at the top, we’re the best. The best have to fight the best.

“… It doesn’t matter where. He’s [Aldo] one of the names. I said (Urijah) Faber. There are so many other guys: Petr Yan. Cody (Garbrandt). There are so many guys that I can fight. There are many options. I’m willing to fight anybody.”

Who do you want to see Moraes face next? Does an Aldo matchup excite you?