Following a lengthy and at times frustrating MMA career, Chip Moraza-Pollard has reinvented himself on the Muay Thai scene.
In the year since he made his Lion Fight debut, Moraza-Pollard has gone undefeated and captured the Lion Fight cruiserweight title, proving his desire to go to an all striking-based sport was the right decision.
“I feel like it was a long time coming,” Moraza-Pollard told MMAWeekly.com. “The last few years of my MMA career, every time I would watch any kind of Muay Thai or kickboxing event, I was telling everybody that I should be on there and if I could get a shot with Lion Fight I could make big things happen.
“After my last fight in the CES I said I was not taking another MMA fight. I was only going to accept what I really wanted to do, which was get in the ring and do kickboxing and Muay Thai. My first Lion Fight was in November (of last year) and ever since then I’ve been proving that I knew what I was talking about and this was where I should be.”
Moraza-Pollard feels like Muay Thai has provided him the freedom to truly express his stand-up game that at times could be stifled by the grappling aspects of MMA.
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“I’ve beat a few other tough guys in my fights and won the first cruiserweight title for Lion Fight,” said Moraza-Pollard. “I’m comfortable and am having fun. I’ve been showing off my striking ability without guys diving at my legs and trying to get me to the ground.”
Moraza-Pollard (5-0) will put his Lion Fight cruiserweight belt on the line along with a shot at the MTGP cruiserweight title against Jordan Smith (11-0) in the main event of Lion Fight 39 on Saturday in London.
“He’s definitely a talented guy, a tough guy,” Moraza-Pollard said of Smith. “He looks like he likes to bring the fight and is an aggressive type of fighter. It should lead to an exciting fight.
“I just have to be myself. Every fighter has flaws in their game and it just comes down to who can pick those out and who can take advantage of them – and that’s what I try to do. As long as I just play my own game and keep my wits about me, I should be in for a good night.”
Following what could be a very successful first year in Muay Thai with two titles to his credit, Moraza-Pollard is looking forward to more opportunities to add to his list of accomplishments and have an even better year in 2018.
“In that one year I managed to go undefeated and win a title, so I’m going to top that somehow,” Moraza-Pollard said. “Hopefully it will be bigger and better things. I want to keep defending my Lion Fight title and if I get an opportunity to fight for any more titles, I’ll keep adding them to my trophy case.”
