John Anthony Moraga (born March 20, 1984) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competes as a

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

and

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

in MMA and boxing, respectively. He is best known for his lengthy career in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

which saw him challenge for the UFC Flyweight Championship in 2013.

Background

Moraga was born and raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. He attended Maryvale High School and then chose to go to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

where he was a two-time University Freestyle All-American wrestler for the Sun Devils.

Mixed martial arts career

Moraga started his professional career at 2009 in Arizona for the local organization Rage in the Cage. There he achieved an undefeated record of 6–0, until his fight against John Dodson at 2010, in which he lost via unanimous decision. After this setback he won five straight bouts to make his way into the UFC. He is of Mexican heritage.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Moraga was expected his promotional debut against Ian McCall on August 4, 2012 at UFC on Fox 4. However, McCall was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Ulysses Gomez. Moraga won the fight via KO in the first round. Moraga next faced Chris Cariaso on December 29, 2012 at UFC 155. Moraga was victorious with a third round guillotine choke submission. His victory also earned him ''Submission of the Night'' honors. Moraga was expected to face Demetrious Johnson for the UFC Flyweight Championship on April 13, 2013 at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale. However, Johnson was forced out of the bout with an injury and Moraga was removed from the event as well. Moraga eventually faced Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27, 2013. Moraga showed promise in the first round as he landed some good strikes standing. However, the champion began to wear him down with his wrestling. Despite hurting Johnson in the fourth round with a punch, he lost the fight via submission in the fifth round. Moraga was expected to face

Darren Uyenoyama Darren Uyenoyama (born October 15, 1979) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. Uyenoyama formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Strikeforce, DREAM, DEEP, and Shooto. Background Uyenoyama was born and ...

on December 14, 2013 at

UFC on Fox 9 ''UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Benavidez 2'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 9'') was a mixed martial arts event held on December 14, 2013, at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California. It was the UFC's third visit to the venue, after UFC 65 and UFC ...

. However, Moraga pulled out of the bout with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Alptekin Ozkilic. Moraga faced Dustin Ortiz on January 15, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 35. He won the fight via split decision. A rematch with John Dodson took place on June 7, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 42. He lost the fight via TKO due to a doctor stoppage between rounds two and three after a knee Dodson threw late in the second round broke Moraga's nose. Moraga faced Justin Scoggins on September 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. Moraga defeated Scoggins via submission in the second round, securing a guillotine choke after being taken down. Moraga was expected to face Jussier Formiga on December 13, 2014 at UFC on Fox 13. However, Formiga pulled out of the fight on November 21 and was replaced by Willie Gates. Moraga won the fight via submission in the third round. Moraga faced Joseph Benavidez on May 23, 2015 at UFC 187. Moraga lost the back and forth fight via unanimous decision. Moraga faced Matheus Nicolau on July 8, 2016 at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale He lost the fight via split decision. Moraga was expected to face Zach Makovsky on December 10, 2016 at UFC 206. However, Moraga pulled out of the fight in early November citing injury and was replaced by Dustin Ortiz. Moraga next faced Sergio Pettis on January 15, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 103. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Moraga faced promotional newcomer Ashkan Mokhtarian on June 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 110. He won the one-sided fight by unanimous decision. Moraga faced Magomed Bibulatov on October 7, 2017 at UFC 216. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Moraga faced Wilson Reis on April 14, 2018 at UFC on Fox 29. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Moraga faced Deiveson Figueiredo on August 25, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 135. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. On February 7, 2019, it was reported that Moraga was released from the UFC.

Post-UFC career

Moraga was supposed to face Hector Sandoval at ARES 2 on April 3, 2020. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the event was postponed until October 30, 2020, before being cancelled altogether.

Professional boxing career

Just before joining ranks of the UFC, Moraga made his professional boxing debut against Jose Marrufo, losing the bout via unanimous decision. After he was released from the UFC in 2019, he continued with his boxing career by defeating Brandon Foss via technical knockout in the second round.

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

USA Wrestling USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling ...

**University Freestyle All-American out of

(2006–07) **University Freestyle National Championship 133 lb: 6th place out of

(2006–07) *

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

** Pac-10 Conference 125 lb: 4th place out of

(2007) ** Pac-10 Conference 133 lb: 6th place out of

(2004)

Mixed martial arts

** Submission of the Night (One time) ** Performance of the Night (One time) **UFC.com Awards ***2012: Ranked #6 Newcomer of the Year *Rage in the Cage **Rage in the Cage Bantamweight Crown (2012) *Trilogy Championship Fighting **Trilogy Championship Fighting Bantamweight Champion (2011) *

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

** 2013 All-Violence First Team

Mixed martial arts record

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–2 , Demetrious Johnson , Submission (armbar) , UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 3:43 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–1 , Chris Cariaso , Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC 155 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:11 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1 , Jose Carbajal , Decision (unanimous) , Cage Rage: On the River 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Maurice Senters , Decision (unanimous) , Rage in the Cage 160 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Matthew Garcia , Submission (armbar) , Coalition of Combat: The Bangers Ball , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:10 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Freddie Lux , Submission (guillotine choke) , Trilogy Championship Fighting: Rumble at the Ranch 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Nathaniel Baker , Submission (armbar) , Martinez Brothers Production: Sun City Battle , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:27 ,

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, Dominican Republic , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Aldo Escudero , Decision (unanimous) , Rage in the Cage 143 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * *
Official John Moraga Tee KO Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moraga, John 1984 births Living people American male mixed martial artists American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent Martial artists from Phoenix, Arizona Flyweight mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists from Arizona American male sport wrestlers Arizona State Sun Devils wrestlers Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters