Unless victorious, ex-title challenger John Moraga could call it quits after UFC Fight Night 103

Coming off a two-fight skid, former UFC flyweight title challenger John Moraga said a loss in his next scrap might mean being cut.

And, at 32, Moraga (16-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is at a point where not being in the UFC might just mean being done with MMA altogether. That’s why he’s going into his hometown UFC Fight Night 103 appointment with Sergio Pettis (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) with everything he’s got.

“This is real to me,” Moraga told MMAjunkie Radio ahead of the FS1-televised preliminary-card bout. “I came from the streets. I did this to make a better living and provide for my kids. And I’m barely at the point where I really feel like I can get a win or a couple of wins and actually start making some money that – show myself that I made a career out of this.

“You know, there’s nothing left for me. If I get cut from the UFC, there ain’t nothing else really in fighting for me, so I’m fighting for my life right here. This is everything. I’m all in. I’m all in on this one.”

The scrap, which takes place Jan. 15 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, is Moraga’s 10th since joining the UFC in 2012. After starting out his octagon stint with two finishes, Moraga snapped an overall seven-fight winning streak with a submission loss to champ Demetrious Johnson in a UFC on FOX 8 title affair.

Moraga has had three wins and three losses since – the two most recent a unanimous decision to two-time title challenger Joseph Benavidez, followed by a split call to Brazilian up-and-comer Matheus Nicolau Pereira.

With a title fight and overall victorious balance, Moraga’s UFC stint hasn’t been all bad. But after seven years of pro fighting, the No. 9 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings said he’s starting to feel the effects of the heavy training on his body.

“This thing is rough,” Moraga said. “I’m an old-ass man already, or at least that’s how I feel.

“I don’t go to the gym and play patty cake. I go in there and fight. I train to fight. We fight to train. It’s not like we just fight on fight night. So it’s you know, waking up feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck, taking your kids to school and just staying on it, grinding all the time. There’s only so long somebody’s going to want to do that.”

While the UFC is most certainly not the only option for high-level fighters, Moraga fails to see who else can provide him with the same financial compensation should he, in fact, receive his UFC pink slip. That’s why he’s determined to make sure it doesn’t come to that.

“I don’t think anybody else is paying the money that we should be paid to go through what we go through,” Moraga said. “I don’t do this to be on posters or interviews or fame, anything like that. I’m here to provide for my family and that’s it.

“I don’t know what else there would be for me, so I’m going to make this happen.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 103, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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