Marlon Moraes issues statement after loss to Henry Cejudo

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 238, former World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes stepped into the Octagon for his first UFC title shot.

Though the Brazilian had some success early, pelting his foe Henry Cejudo with heavy artillery in round one, he ultimately faded in the second, and was stopped by a volley of ground strikes in the third.

Shortly after this fight wrapped up, Marlon Moraes took to his official Instagram account, where he issued a quick statement on the loss in his native Portuguese.

“Thanks for everyone’s support,” he wrote. “The fight continues.”

A quick scroll through the replies on this Instagram post reveals that Marlon Moraes received messages of support from UFC stars such as two-division champion Amanda Nunes and lightweight contender Edson Barboza, and other notables like Eryk Anders, Belal Muhammed and Hakeem Dawodu.

Prior to this loss, Moraes was on an impressive four-fight streak. This streak was composed of a decision victory over former flyweight title challenger John Dodson, thunderous knockouts of Aljamain Sterling and Jimmie Rivera, and a submission of long-time contender Raphael Assuncao — who he lost to in his UFC debut. The Brazilian is now 22-6-1 overall.

Henry Cejudo, meanwhile, joins the ranks of just a few fighters to hold UFC titles in two divisions concurrently. The others have been Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes.

What do you think is next for Marlon Moraes after UFC 238?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/9/2019.