FORTALEZA, Brazil – Raphael Assuncao revealed after UFC on ESPN+ 2 that people in his inner circle urged him not to accept a rematch with Marlon Moraes. Given the result, he thinks they might’ve been right.

Assuncao (27-6 MMA, 11-3 UFC) suffered a first-round submission loss to Moraes (22-5-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in Saturday’s headliner, which took place at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil, and streamed on ESPN+. The fight marked a rematch of a June 2017 fight at UFC 212, which Assuncao won by split decision.

Prior to the second encounter with Moraes, Assuncao had only lost to current bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in more than a dozen fights at 135 pounds. He’s felt a title shot has been long overdue, and post-fight he pondered if waiting for a shot at the belt would’ve been the smarter move.

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“Most of my trainers and my family members didn’t want me to accept this fight,” Assuncao told reporters, including MMAjunkie, post-fight at UFC on ESPN+ 2. “Maybe they were right. They had their reasoning being a risky fight, and he beat me. He’s a dangerous guy, and I consider myself a warrior. I think any challenge, I’ll be ready for it. I think looking back now I could have also seen it from the other side and waited for that fight. But we’ll keep moving forward.”

Assuncao said the consideration of declining the Moraes rematch was political, and not because of doubt in his ability. A title shot in the near future was potentially in the cards for him before, but that’s no longer the case.

“Unfortunately, in this sport it can happen, and it happened tonight for me,” Assuncao said. “I was very optimistic I would get through Marlon again, but in this sport, everyone knows that it’s hard to keep a win-streak, regardless if it’s knockout or decisions. I took the chance, and it was bad for me.”

At 36, Assuncao said the setback against Moraes has not given him any thoughts about retirement. He still believes he can accomplish great things in the bantamweight division, and just like Moraes got a chance to avenge a loss at UFC on ESPN+ 2, Assuncao thinks he’ll get a future opportunity to do the same.

“We’re going to have a third fight just like I’m going to fight T.J. (Dillashaw) again one day,” Assuncao said. “I haven’t had much luck in rematches with those guys.”

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