Sheymon Moraes felt he was fighting for his job vs. Marlon Moraes: 'I thought maybe PFL kicked me out'

Sheymon Moraes entered 2022 PFL Championships with a ton of pressure.

Sure, he wasn’t fighting for a belt and the $1 million prize that comes with winning a season, but with fighting former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes on short notice, and coming off a loss, Sheymon (15-6) felt his spot on the PFL roster was on the line.

“I know if I lost, I thought maybe PFL kicked me out, and I don’t want to lose my job,” Sheymon told reporters at the post-fight news conference (via MMA Sucka). “Just two weeks for short notice, it was going to be very tough. Nobody, and you can ask anyone in the division, no one wanted to face Marlon Moraes with full camp and just having two weeks (to prepare).

Sheymon had a previous defeat to Marlon (23-11-1) back in 2015 at WSOF 22. Sheymon was submitted by his fellow Brazilian with a third-round rear-naked choke.

In their rematch, things looked tough for Sheymon. He was down on the scorecards entering the final round, but he was able to pull off a comeback and score a TKO.

“I know I was losing the fight, but I just kept calm, and I know I just needed to connect a couple of hands to win the fight,” Sheymon said. “So I controlled myself, controlled my mental. When the second round finished, I said (to my coaches), ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to finish this guy right now. Watch, you’re going to see, I’m going to knock this guy right now.’ And I did.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Championships.