Marlon Moraes still wants T.J. Dillashaw fight: ‘I want to put my hands on him one day’

Bloodyelbow.com

Top UFC bantamweight Marlon Moraes has said he wants to fight T.J. Dillashaw regardless of the former champion’s two-year suspension for a positive EPO test.

Dillashaw was handed the ban by USADA last month, and he will be ineligible to fight again until January 2021. Moraes, who will fight Henry Cejudo next at UFC 238 for Dillashaw’s relinquished bantamweight title, spoke to MMAWeekly about the question mark that will now be held over Dillashaw’s career.

“My mind as a fan and as a fighter to look up to a guy and he is good but I don’t know was he going to be like that if he wasn’t cheating? It sucks,” Moraes said. “It puts you in a bad position because we don’t know. You don’t believe the system anymore. You don’t know who’s doing, who’s not doing and it sucks.

“He’ll never be the same. I can guarantee he will never be the same.”

Moraes (22-5-1) is currently on a four-fight winning streak in the UFC. His only loss inside the Octagon came to Raphael Assuncao in his debut, however he avenged that defeat by submitting Assuncao in the first round in their rematch earlier this year. The 31-year-old’s last three fights have all earned him Performance of the Night bonuses.

“Yes I want to fight him 100-percent,” Moraes said about Dillashaw. “I don’t care if he’s taking, if he’s not taking, I want to put my hands on him one day. I want to make him pay for everyone he made pay. I want to put him in a bad spot and show him what is real. I know I’m better than this guy, especially now knowing what he was doing.

“There’s no way that guy can beat me. He can be out forever and then come back and I’ll be more than happy to welcome him back to the UFC and defend my belt against him.”