Thiago Moises as Driven as Ever

Thiago Moises believes he has finally arrived at the intersection where promise meets performance.

The 29-year-old Brazilian will look to steady himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight pecking order when he does battle with Trey Ogden as part of the UFC Fight Night 249 undercard this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Moises enters the cage having compiled a 7-6 record across his 13 appearances inside the Octagon.

“I’m approaching my peak,” he told Sherdog.com, “but I have many years ahead of me. My goal is to become champion, and I believe I have all I need, physically and technically. My current focus is to go on a winning streak. I want to fight three or four times this year. There’s time to make that happen. I want to be back in the Top 15, reach the very top and capture the belt.”

His road back to relevance at 155 pounds starts with Ogden, a Marathon MMA rep who steps into view on the strength of back-to-back victories over Kurt Holobaugh and Loik Radzhabov. Ogden, 35, has delivered more than half (11) of his 18 professional wins by submission.

“His strong suit is his ground work, his jiu-jitsu, but on the feet, he’s very methodical,” Moises said. “He doesn’t expose himself much. He uses his jabs and kicks to the knee to stay at a safe distance, so he can work his jiu-jitsu, but I also have strong wrestling and jiu-jitsu skills. My goal is to beat him by knockout. I very much want to win before the final buzzer. “Trey is not very famous,” he added, “but there are things he does very well. He does bring danger. I want to impress by winning by knockout and showing that I’m one of the world’s best MMA fighters.”

Moises continues to fine tune his skills at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he has trained since he was a teenager.

“I’ve been working a lot on my wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” Moises said. “I plan to win either by knockout standing up or by delivering ground-and-pound. My goal is to be very aggressive and make him very uncomfortable. I believe I’ll be very ready for this fight. I’m very confident.”