Marlon Moraes and Jimmie Rivera almost agreed to fight on short notice at UFC 219 late last month, but while the bout fell through it seems that the match-up might not be dead-in-the-water.
“Here you go @JimmieRivera135 I signed my bout agreement @ufc on fox,” Moraes wrote to his rival on Twitter. “I also agreed to fight you on march 3rd choose what day you want me to beat your ass B-I-T-C-H @seanshelby @danawhite @AliAbdelaziz00.”
Alongside Moraes’ message he included a picture of his signed contract, but it remains to be seen if Rivera will follow suit as he may have other plans now.
“Monday I will be making (an) official statement on everything in the past weeks,” Rivera told Bloodyelbow.com. “The last time my manager spoke to (UFC matchmaker) Sean (Shelby) it was about the possibility of fighting Cody (Garbrandt), since he says he is healthy and ready to fight.”
It’s understandable that the No.4 ranked Rivera would want to pursue the fight with recently dethroned champion Garbrandt instead, particularly as he remains the division’s No.1 contender.
However, if that falls through then fighting the in-form, No.3 ranked Moraes could also be a springboard for him to muscle his way into the title picture at 135lbs.
