The multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion is scheduled to compete against Tim Means at UFC Belem on Feb. 3, and fighting less than eight miles away from where Mitsuyo Maeda met Carlos Gracie brings a unique energy to Moraes as he attempts to win a fight by submission for the first time in almost five years.
”I believe that the energy of the city will bring another submission,” Moraes told MMA Fighting. “Belem, the birthplace of jiu-jitsu, where jiu-jitsu came to Brazil for the first time and met the Gracie family. Against a guy that likes to be submitted… let’s hope for that [laughs].