Sheymon Moraes ready for WSOF debut: ‘I can knock out anyone in my division’

Sheymon Moraes had his first World Series of Fighting opponent changed twice, but he doesn’t care.

Moraes, a 6-0 bantamweight prospect from Team Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro, faces Gabriel Solorio at Saturday night’s WSOF 16 in Sacramento, and his biggest challenge was days before the actual fight.

“My biggest concern is always the weight. That’s the only thing that makes me nervous when I’m going to a fight,” Moraes told MMAFighting.com. “I chose to fight for a living, and I have done martial arts since I was young, so I’m never nervous when I’m fighting. I just have fun.

“I don’t care who I’m fighting. I don’t pick and choose opponents. I just want to be the best in the world. I will always do my best in training to evolve and beat my opponents.”

In fact, Moraes had to cut 39 pounds to make 135 pounds on Friday.

“I cut down from 174 pounds during the camp,” he said. “I’m big for this weight class.”

To train for his WSOF debut, Moraes moved his camp from Team Nogueira to Thailand.

“I’m more focused when I train here in Thailand,” he said. “I feel I was losing my essence, my muay thai, which is my biggest weapons in my fights, so I wanted to get out of my routine, my comfort zone.

“I have never trained so much for a fight my whole life. I will use the experience I got from my international muay thai fights, do an excellent job and make a perfect debut to bring this victory to Brazil.”

Solorio brings an 11-7 record with five stoppage victories to the match, and the Brazilian bantamweight knows exactly what to expect.

“I never watch my opponent’s fights, I just leave that to my coaches. I just execute what they tell me to do,” Moraes said. “I’m ready to fight anywhere the fight goes.”

“My strategy is to win, beat him up everywhere with my aggressiveness and striking, but I can also use my wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” he continued. “I always train to be fast, strong and versatile. I know that my opponents will always pretend to strike with me before trying to take me down.”

Moraes hasn’t fought since a 20-second knockout victory in April, and his bantamweight clash with Solorio will earn him a shot at the WSOF gold against Marlon Moraes if he wins Saturday.

“I want to be the WSOF bantamweight champion, I want to be the best in the world,” Sheymon Moraes said. “They said I will fight for the title mid-2015 if I win my debut.”

Sheymon and Marlon share the same last name and the same martial arts background. Both come from muay thai roots, and the Team Nogueira prospect has been following the WSOF champion since his muay thai days.

“He deserves the title, no doubt about it,” he said. “I admire him as an athlete since his muay thai days. He’s strong, fast and explosive. He’s an excellent professional and a tough fighter. I don’t know if I would knock him out, but I know we both would get hurt a lot in the fight [laughs].

“My style is to walk forward and go for the knockout all the time. I know that I can knock out anyone in my division if I land my punches and kicks.”

Sheymon Moraes had his first World Series of Fighting opponent changed twice, but he doesn’t care.

Moraes, a 6-0 bantamweight prospect from Team Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro, faces Gabriel Solorio at Saturday night’s WSOF 16 in Sacramento, and his biggest challenge was days before the actual fight.

“My biggest concern is always the weight. That’s the only thing that makes me nervous when I’m going to a fight,” Moraes told MMAFighting.com. “I chose to fight for a living, and I have done martial arts since I was young, so I’m never nervous when I’m fighting. I just have fun.

“I don’t care who I’m fighting. I don’t pick and choose opponents. I just want to be the best in the world. I will always do my best in training to evolve and beat my opponents.”

In fact, Moraes had to cut 39 pounds to make 135 pounds on Friday.

“I cut down from 174 pounds during the camp,” he said. “I’m big for this weight class.”

To train for his WSOF debut, Moraes moved his camp from Team Nogueira to Thailand.

“I’m more focused when I train here in Thailand,” he said. “I feel I was losing my essence, my muay thai, which is my biggest weapons in my fights, so I wanted to get out of my routine, my comfort zone.

“I have never trained so much for a fight my whole life. I will use the experience I got from my international muay thai fights, do an excellent job and make a perfect debut to bring this victory to Brazil.”

Solorio brings an 11-7 record with five stoppage victories to the match, and the Brazilian bantamweight knows exactly what to expect.

“I never watch my opponent’s fights, I just leave that to my coaches. I just execute what they tell me to do,” Moraes said. “I’m ready to fight anywhere the fight goes.”

“My strategy is to win, beat him up everywhere with my aggressiveness and striking, but I can also use my wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” he continued. “I always train to be fast, strong and versatile. I know that my opponents will always pretend to strike with me before trying to take me down.”

Moraes hasn’t fought since a 20-second knockout victory in April, and his bantamweight clash with Solorio will earn him a shot at the WSOF gold against Marlon Moraes if he wins Saturday.

“I want to be the WSOF bantamweight champion, I want to be the best in the world,” Sheymon Moraes said. “They said I will fight for the title mid-2015 if I win my debut.”

Sheymon and Marlon share the same last name and the same martial arts background. Both come from muay thai roots, and the Team Nogueira prospect has been following the WSOF champion since his muay thai days.

“He deserves the title, no doubt about it,” he said. “I admire him as an athlete since his muay thai days. He’s strong, fast and explosive. He’s an excellent professional and a tough fighter. I don’t know if I would knock him out, but I know we both would get hurt a lot in the fight [laughs].

“My style is to walk forward and go for the knockout all the time. I know that I can knock out anyone in my division if I land my punches and kicks.”