Written by Eduarda Moura | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Eduarda Moura returns to the flyweight division to face Veronica Hardy at UFC 309 this Saturday in New York, but that doesn’t mean she’s done fighting at 115 pounds.
Moura failed to make the strawweight limit twice in the UFC, with those two appearances resulting in a second-round finish over Montserrat Conejo and a split decision defeat to Denise Gomes this past June. Dropping down to 115 pounds for the Gomes fight was particularly harrowing and Moura said her team is looking into what went wrong in order to fix it. For now, staying at flyweight means a smoother cut Friday morning compared to the 17-pound cut she recently endured.
“My body rejected it and I felt so many cramps I basically didn’t sleep during fight week,” Moura said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I’m traumatized, but I’ll go back to 115—but not right now [laughs]. I think we can change a few things and study more. Truth is, I just want to fight. I think I’ll have more fights at 125 and I need to work.”
The 30-year-old Brazilian said her coaches had to spend nights awake doing massages while she dealt with cramps before her previous weigh-in and she even threw up moments after stepping on the scale.
“I left to vomit before the faceoff and Denise got a bucket to help me,” Moura said. “I’ve never experienced something like that before, to feel that way. That weight cut affected me a lot, and it definitely gave her more confidence [to see me like that]. I kept remembering that scene, her getting me a bucket. That was the first time I felt like crying before a fight. I was so frustrated I couldn’t make weight. I was so nervous, and I kept trying to disguise. I was singing as I walked out to play cool, and I never do that. I was completely lost. I felt in my heart something was wrong.
“As soon as I shot for a takedown and she got the guillotine, brother… I wasn’t back to normal yet, and I felt the cardio after that guillotine. I was fighting my mind and body to keep going. I didn’t feel like standing and trading with her. I was so desperate to take her down that I was frustrated. I had no energy, I was slow. I wasn’t ready for a real war. Maybe I underestimated Denise a little bit after seeing some of her fights and thinking I would be ready to take her down, and that also frustrated me.”
Looking on the bright side, Moura said suffering her first defeat as a professional lifted a weight from her shoulders, calling it a “life-changing experience.” Hardy enters the cage at UFC 309 riding a three-fight winning streak, her best since joining the promotion back in 2016, and Moura expects “a good test for me in this division” as she plans on jump between weight classes in the future for more opportunities.
“I want to be champion and I believe I have great advantage at strawweight,” Moura said. “I’m tall and have good reach, and the power, too, but I’m still traumatized [laughs]. We will think about it. It depends on the opportunity. [Hardy] is very technical on the feet and has good kicks, and I’ll cut the angles there. Maybe I’ll place some doubts in her head [laughs]. I’m ready for everything she brings. This time I’m not going there thinking like I have to take her down at all costs.”