Skip to main content
Thiago Moises of Brazil poses for a portrait backstage during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on March 16, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Athletes

Thiago Moisés Is Blessed To Live This Life

Brazilian Lightweight Faces Ludovit Klein In Louisville And Has His Sights On A Ranked Opponent With A Victory

After Thiago Moises picked up his seventh UFC win in March with a third-round stoppage of Mitch Ramirez, he called for a fight with Dan Hooker.

This Saturday, the Brazilian lightweight standout returns to the Octagon. He got Ludovit Klein, not Hooker, but it doesn’t matter to him.

“I don't care,” said Moises. “I will fight anybody. But after I beat Klein, I want a ranked opponent.”

Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview

It’s the voice of experience, one earned through 25 pro fights, and a life filled with martial arts long before he made it his career. Not surprisingly, there were no detours once Moises was first exposed to the sport.

“I always wanted to be a fighter,” he said. “I always used to watch UFC and I knew that I was going to be there someday.”

Thiago Moisés Fight Week Interview | UFC Louisville
fight pass logo
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!

Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!

This video is not available in your country

There was a problem while loading content. Please try again.

Thiago Moisés Fight Week Interview | UFC Louisville
/

It made him abandon his childhood dreams of being on the soccer pitch, and in August of 2018, a head kick knockout of Gleidson Cutis on the Brazilian edition of Dana White’s Contender Series landed him a UFC contract. Three months later, he was debuting in the Octagon against Beneil Dariush. 

Moises lost that night, but he’s subsequently stayed comfortably above the .500 mark, beating the likes of Michael Johnson, Bobby Green, Christos Giagos and Alexander Hernandez. Even in defeats to current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and French contender Benoit Saint-Denis, he’s shown glimpses of the potential to make a run at the belt in the coming years

RELATED: Ludovit Klein Interview

And the scary part is that he does have time because he just turned 29 in March.

“For sure, I think the best yet to come because I think a fighter is in his prime at around 32 years old,” said Moises. “For the strength and the technique, I think 32 is the peak. So I have three more years to be at my best, and I want to keep climbing the rankings and get to the belt.”

Klein, also 29, will be a good barometer of where Moises is at. The Slovakia native is 4-0-1 in his last five, and he will press the action, which is always a good thing for the pride of Indaiatuba, a longtime member of the American Top Team squad who has been spending a good part of his training camps at home, where he works with the Fighting Nerds. It’s been a nice way to keep his family happy and his training fresh.

Thiago Moisés aplica chute em Joel Álvarez durante luta em UFC Fight Night no UFC Apex em 2021 (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Thiago Moises of Brazil kicks Joel Alvarez of Spain in a lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on November 13, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

“I love training at American Top Team,” he said. “It’s my home, it's my family. But right now, I'm spending a lot of time in Brazil because my wife wants to be closer to our family and she's happy and I'm happy here, also. We are happy that we are close to our family here.”

There is the school of thought that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but for someone who has trained for most of his life, a little shake-up never hurt, either. Or maybe, making this work like Moises has everything to do with attitude.

TUF 32: Episode 1 Recap | How To Watch

“I’m not going to lie,” said Moises. “Sometimes even when you do what you love, it's hard because even if you love the job, there's things that you’ve got to do that you don't like. So I just enjoy the process and do everything with happiness. I think that's the secret. We are so blessed to live like this - go to the gym, train and do what you love. And I'm just blessed to be a UFC fighter.”

How To Watch This Season Of The Ultimate Fighter

UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov took place live from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on June 8, 2024. See the final Prelims & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!