Eduarda Moura, having missed weight for the second time in her UFC career, aims to compensate with a decisive victory against Denise Gomes at UFC Louisville and plans to address her weight issues post-fight.
Eduarda Moura has now missed weight twice in two UFC bouts. She wants to make up for that with a thrilling performance Saturday night at UFC Louisville.
The Brazilian talent stepped on the scale 3.5 pounds over the strawweight limit this past November at UFC Sao Paulo. She finished Montserrat Ruiz in the second round. Moura came in a half-pound over this time and plans on visiting a doctor post-fight to address her weight issues.
In the meantime, Moura vows to be the first person to stop Denise Gomes in the UFC. “I will run through her like a car, like a tractor,” Moura told MMA Fighting. “She’s a super cool girl, we’ve met at UFC Sao Paulo, but this is work.”
“I need to show my potential to be valued,” she continued. “I’ll do what I have to do to run through her. I’m going all-in. I’m going there to end this fight decisively, like I’ve done all my fights. It’s what people like to watch.”
Moura has only gone the distance once in her career. It was a split decision victory. Watching some questionable calls has made her determined to seek a stoppage every time she’s locked in a cage.
“There was a fight now in the UFC, ‘Borrachinha’ [Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland] in a split decision, and nobody thought it was a split decision,” Moura said. “We never know what the judge is thinking. We can’t push our luck.”
“We train hard to make sure there’s no room for error. I’ll do everything I can to finish this fight.” Moura added.
“She’s a striker with heavy hands and I can’t deny that,” Moura continued. “She knocked out Yazmin Jauregui and Bruna Brasil. Her striking scares everyone — everyone but me.”
“I’m evolving in the striking area and my hands are heavy,” she said. “I’m ready to use them in this fight.”
Moura mentioned she doesn’t want to share a card with her teammate Jailton Almeida again like they did in Sao Paulo. The team prefers to stay focused on one athlete at a time. That’s why “Malhadinho” fought a week earlier in Newark, finishing Alexandr Romanov.
If Almeida does face Ciryl Gane next at UFC Paris, she won’t call to be on the same show in France. She also won’t call out a top-ranked opponent next either.
“I don’t want to fight a ranked opponent now,” Moura said. “It’s my second UFC fight and I can fight one more and then ask for someone ranked.”
“I’m extremely confident and I believe I can beat anyone in the top 15,” she added. “Any top 10 would be a good fight for me. I’ll start to give it a better look and prepare specific strategies for the top five.”
“But those in the top 10 and 15, I can fight them and put on a war and win, God willing,” Moura concluded.