UFC BJJ
CASSIA MOURA AIMING TO MAKE THE MOST OF CHAMPIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY | UFC BJJ
Ascending Standout Discusses Match With Ffion Davies, UFC BJJ Title Fight
Cassia Moura is a prodigy; there is no other way to put it when it comes to the 20-year-old Brazilian jiu jitsu rising star, who moved from her native Brazil to Midland, Texas in 2023 to train under Bruno Bastos and has since rocketed to the top of her division in the sport while earning her black belt with astonishing quickness.
In June 2023, Moura won a world championship in the gi at blue belt, following that up with a no-gi world championship six months later, and in June 2024, she was awarded her black belt while standing atop the podium for winning her third world championship in a 12-month span, this time back in the gi at brown belt.
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Thursday evening, the ascending talent has the chance to step further into the spotlight and make history as she faces off with pound-for-pound great Ffion Davies in a match to determine the inaugural UFC BJJ bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC BJJ 6 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
“I’m pretty happy, I’m super-excited for Thursday night, fighting against Ffion Davies,” Moura said earlier in the week. “Everything is ready to go, and I’m pretty sure everybody is gonna enjoy this show.
“I know it’s really important for myself, but it’s special for the other girls (too) to show that if I can do it, they can do it as well,” she said of competing for the title and doing so against such an established star as Davies, a multiple-time world champion in both the gi and no-gi competition widely considered to be amongst the best in the sport at the moment. “It’s really important for me, but of course, the other girls are gonna be happy to watch it and think the next one can be them.”
If there is an advantage for Moura heading into Thursday’s penultimate pairing in Las Vegas, it’s that she has already spent time competing in the UFC BJJ Bowl, having earned decision wins over Talita Alencar and Alex Enriquez at UFC BJJ 1 and UFC BJJ 3, respectively; Thursday will be Davies’ first UFC BJJ appearance.
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“I already competed in The Bowl, so I already know what to expect,” Moura said of the unique competition area, with its sloped walls that funnel the action into the center and limit the number of resets that take place during the course of a match. “I like The Bowl a lot because it’s five minutes straight without stopping. You fight for five minutes straight, looking for all types of submissions.
“It helps me a lot because I’m always ready to compete,” continued Moura when asked about her constant competition schedule, which already includes a win at the IBJJF European Championships in Portugal in January. “It helps with the nerves. I always feel nervous, I always feel the same feeling, so I know how to control myself. This match, nothing changes — I’m gonna be myself, be “Cassinha.”
“I always try to control myself, and now it’s gonna be even better because I have a lot of people with me now,” she added. “I have my second family coming over; I have my coach, Bruno Bastos; I have Rebecca Lima, my friend, and I know my first family from Brazil, everybody is gonna be watching, so this is what helps me to give my best.”
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Her best is going to be needed against the Welsh standout Davies, who submitted current UFC strawweight champion and multiple-time BJJ world champion Mackenzie Dern two summers ago and scored a split decision win over Australia ace Adele Fornarino last May at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11.
But the rising star is confident that her well-rounded game and aggressive approach will pay dividends on Thursday.
“My style is really different. I’m 20 years old, so I (never) stop fighting,” Moura said with a smile and a chuckle. “I look forward. My style is aggressive passing, aggressive takedowns, always looking for submissions. I’m pretty sure my style is what people like to watch, so I have everything to give to them.
“I train everything — a little bit on the bottom, a little bit on the top; everything — because I don’t like to stay in only one game. Everything that happens there, I’m gonna be ready.
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“I think the match is gonna be crazy,” she added excitedly. “I’m gonna try to have control the whole time, but I think we’re gonna see a lot of aggressive takedowns, a lot of aggressive knee cuts, a lot of aggressive passing.
“But I’m pretty sure everybody is gonna love to watch it. We’re gonna have fun in there. I hope I can get the submission; I can get the match done.”
Having already achieved so much in such a short period of time, the future is clearly bright for the Rio de Janeiro native, but a victory on Thursday would certainly increase the wattage.
“It means a lot for me because I work a lot,” Moura said when asked about winning the title and becoming the inaugural UFC BJJ women’s bantamweight champion. “I train a lot, I try to do everything right to have these opportunities. When you have one opportunity, you have to grab that and keep that, so I think this is what I’m gonna do Thursday night.
“I want the belt so bad, so I really wanna get that and give my 100 percent, show everybody I can get the belt.”