Marlon Moraes unlikely to face Jimmie Rivera at UFC 219

After a few days of trying to put together a match with Jimmie Rivera vs. Marlon Moraes, a tweet last night by Rivera indicates it’s not happening.

“Sorry to my fans friends and family @MMARLOONMORAES said no to the 10 pounds. Those were his terms. I agreed, and then he withdrew the offer.”

Rivera was looking for a new opponent for Saturday’s UFC 219 pay-per-view. He was supposed to face John Lineker, who pulled out due to emergency oral surgery after already coming to Las Vegas.

Rivera vs. Lineker was third from the top on Saturday’s show, behind the Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm featherweight title fight and Edson Barboza vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Rivera had tried to get Moraes as a new opponent, although Moraes is coming off fights on November 11th with John Dodson (winning via split decision) and December 9th with Aljamain Sterling (winning via quick knockout). He had offered the fight at 138, 140, and finally 145 but Moraes turned it down.

Given the quick turnaround and the importance of the fight when it came to the title picture, it wasn’t in Moraes’ best interest to take a fight at the last minute with no specific training.