Zorobabel Moreira Wants to Join Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and Brazil’s Best as a Champion

ONE FC lightweight Zorobabel Moreira will battle for the first ever lightweight title in the promotion’s history at the next show in October.

Moreira has already had 3 opponent changes since the fight was announced, but now with former Shooto fighter Kotetsu Boku lined up for the title fight, he can finally focus on getting ready for a specific match-up.

Moreira sat down with MMAWeekly.com to discuss the fight, and how he hopes to become the next great Brazilian MMA champion.

MMAWeekly: What are your thoughts on Kotetsu Boku as an opponent?

Zorobabel Moreira: My coaches Chatri and Heath tell me that he has very dangerous boxing and I know he has some knockouts and has beaten some tough fighters, UFC guys. He has a lot experience, more than me, and he has been fighting a long time. For sure his boxing is dangerous and I have to be very careful about that, this is what everyone says to me about this fight.

You were originally supposed to fight Eduard Folayang and then Ole Laursen, what did you think when your opponent kept changing?

ZM: I have been training to fight on this show for long time and I knew I would fight so I have just been training very hard at Evolve MMA, making sure I am in the best condition and am ready for the fight. Chatri tells me who he wants me to fight and I say ‘Ok, no problem’ I never say no to a fight and I trust my team at Evolve MMA and if they tell me to fight someone I am always ready.

Your Muay Thai has improved dramatically in the last couple of years but do you think Boku is the most dangerous striker you have ever faced and are you confident you will be good enough to stand with him?

ZM: Roger Huerta has a lot of KOs so I don’t know if Boku will be the most dangerous or not but what I do know for sure is that my training partners are more dangerous. I work with Lamnamoon Sor Sumalee who is very famous in Thailand, he is one of the best Muay Thai fighters ever and I don’t think any MMA fighters are the same as him in striking, his level is very high, like world champion and there are a lot of trainers at Evolve MMA the same so I do not think Boku’s striking will be better than my trainers and sparring partners.

My Muay Thai now is better than before but I still have a lot to learn. I do not know what will happen in the fight but I am not only a BJJ fighter anymore, I can fight striking as well, his boxing is dangerous for sure so I have to be ready for that.

How excited are you about the prospect of becoming the first ever ONE FC Lightweight Champion?

ZM: For me it is a dream but this is real life not movie and only way to make dreams real is to work very hard. If I win the belt I will be very happy but I am not thinking about that, all I think about is my training and at Evolve MMA they push me so hard every single day. I do not have time to dream about being a champion, I only sleep and eat and train, after I win the belt I can think about it but now is the time for hard work.

You have only been the distance once in your career but this fight is scheduled for five rounds, are you confident you can fight for 25 minutes if you need to?

ZM: That fight against Ferrid Kheder they only tell me 5 days before that I would be fighting him so I did not have time to train but I still felt good in round three. At Evolve MMA the fight team is always training and even if I am not fighting I am training all the time so I think my condition is good. My trainers have changed some things with the number of rounds I train to help and I feel very good and am happy that my condition will be good for this fight. To win by a submission or a knock out is the best for me but if I have to fight for five rounds I will be ready.

You are close to winning a belt with one of the biggest organizations in the MMA world at present, are people in Brazil becoming more aware of you now?

ZM: My friends try to watch my fights but sometimes because of time difference they are at work and cannot. I am not so good with the internet so I don’t know what people say about me but when I talk to my family or my friends in Brazil they all know I am fighting for the biggest MMA show in all of Asia and they are very happy for me and they are very happy that now I have the chance to become a world champion like Jose Aldo, Anderson Silva or Junior Dos Santos.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/zorobabel-moreira-wants-to-join-anderson-silva-jose-aldo-and-brazils-best-as-a-champion

Zoro could be a beast. Hope he soccer kicks his way to legendary status.