Marlon Moraes undergoes shoulder surgery, expects March return to training

Marlon Moraes had surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday and it was a success, the UFC fighter told MMA Fighting.

The former bantamweight title contender decided to go under the knife to fix an injury that has been bothering him for a while and will have to wear a cast for six weeks. Moraes said he expects to be cleared to resume training in 10 weeks.

“Magic” signed with the UFC after winning 13 in a row, including victories over the likes of Miguel Torres, Tyson Nam and Josh Hill (twice) during his run as WSOF champion, and made his way towards a shot at the UFC belt with four straight wins inside the octagon, but came up short against Henry Cejudo.

Winless in 2020, losing a pair of stoppages to Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font after closing 2019 with a decision win over Jose Aldo, Moraes won’t call anyone out at the moment.

“I just want to return and get back to my best performances,” he said.

Moraes dropped to No. 7 in the official UFC rankings with his recent setback, sitting ahead of names like Pedro Munhoz, Jimmie Rivera, Raphael Assuncao and Dominick Cruz.