WSOF champ Marlon Moraes: The only person that doesn't want to see me fight Dominick Cruz is Dominick Cruz

WSOF bantamweight champ Marlon Moraes is currently riding a 12-fight winning streak and is ranked No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings. But that’s not good enough for Moraes.

The Brazilian believes that at 28, he’s finally hit his stride as an athlete, and he wants to fight the best bantamweights in the world – including UFC champ Dominick Cruz.

“The only person that doesn’t want to see me fight Dominick Cruz is Dominick Cruz,” Moraes told MMAjunkie Radio. “Besides him, everybody else wants it. I think just he doesn’t want it that much, but one day, everything is going to happen.

“I’m very happy what I’m doing now with the fight that I have. I learned a lot in this camp, and I want to go out there and put on a great show.”

Moraes (17-4-1) puts his title on the line against countryman Josenaldo Silva (25-4) at WSOF34, which takes place Dec. 31 in New York City at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and airs on NBC.

Moraes has already fought 10 times under the WSOF banner and believes he’s better now that ever before and can show the world he’s the best 135-pounder on the planet.

“Me and David Branch were on the first show, and I can’t believe how far we are now and what we accomplished – the fighters, and the show itself,” Moraes said. “It’s one of the top shows in the world.”

Along the way, Moraes moved to New Jersey to spend more time training under Ricardo Almeida, and to spend more time working with high-level partners such as former UFC champ Frankie Edgar.

“I see Frankie, as much as he has accomplished, I see him as a fighter, and the guy is still in the gym every day,” Moraes said. “He doesn’t miss one workout. He’s hurt, he’s in the gym. He can’t go, he figures it out. If he can’t train, he just goes to watch, and I see a guy like that pushing me. I want to be like this guy. I want to work hard. If I’m doing this, I’m going to do it like I should be doing it. I don’t want to do this 50 percent. I want to do this 120 (percent).

“I think when you pick something to do in your life, you’ve got to commit. You’ve got to try your best. If you’re not going to try your best, then just don’t do it. I don’t want to be a half champion. I want to be a whole champion. And I would say one of the biggest motivations I have to keep myself working hard, I see Frankie. He was former UFC champion, 155, and he’s now one of the 145ers in the world. He’s still there. He’s still working hard. I’m trying just to follow a great example I have every day in the gym.”

Moraes won’t discuss the exact status of his contract, but he’s scheduled to become a free agent in the not-too-distant future. He’d need to change promotions, of course, should he want to fight Cruz, but Moraes said he’s not necessarily in a rush to leave the organization he’s called home since 2012.

“I’m happy to be part of it,” Moraes said. “Big show, and good people involved with it. Great fighters. Some guys that I always looked up to, and now I have an opportunity to be on the same card of these guys. Sometimes I can’t believe it and how far I went. But now I’m here. I’ve got to work hard to keep myself in the position that I earned.”

That said, Moraes said he believes a bout with Cruz does lie on the horizon.

“That Dominick Cruz fight is going to happen,” Moraes said. “I know it. One day it’s going to happen.”

For more on WSOF 34, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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