Marlon Moraes gave Jose Aldo a tough welcome to the bantamweight division.
Moraes (23-6-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) scored a split-decision win over the former longtime UFC and WEC featherweight champion at Saturday’s UFC 245 in Las Vegas. The American Top Team product outpointed Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) with a scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
This bout marked Aldo’s debut in the 135-pound division. Although there was a lot of skepticism surrounding Aldo’s trip 10 pounds south of his old weight class, Aldo managed to look good at the new weight, and many thought he did enough to win the decision.
In Round 1, both fighters landed significant shots and had good moments. Aldo might have hurt Moraes more, but Moraes was able to take down Aldo in the last seconds of the round.
Round 2 was a different story. Aldo walked down Moraes and had a good amount of success on the feet, landing big shots on Moraes. However, things got competitive once again in the final round, where both fighters had success on the feet.
Aldo, 33, is now on a two-fight losing streak and 2-2 since his failed attempt to regain his featherweight belt against Max Holloway at UFC 218 in 2017.
Meanwhile, Moraes was able to bounce back from his TKO defeat to now-bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo when the two fought for the vacant belt earlier this summer.
The bantamweight bout was part of the UFC 245 main card at T-Mobile Arena. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 245 results include:
- Marlon Moraes def. Jose Aldo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Petr Yan def. Urijah Faber via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 0:43
- Geoff Neal vs. Mike Perry via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:30
- Irene Aldana def. Ketlen Vieira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:51
- Omari Akhmedov def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matt Brown def. Ben Saunders via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:55
- Chase Hooper def. Daniel Teymur via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:34
- Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Jessica Eye def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Punahele Soriano def. Oskar Piechota via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:17
