After being booked in January to fight American Sijara (Sarj) Eubanks, Canadian bantamweight Sarah (Cheesecake) Moras has had to bide her time during the pandemic.
That meant training in the garage and living room in her adopted home of Las Vegas until the time was right. That comes Wednesday in Jacksonville, Fla., when Moras finally meets Eubanks on a televised UFC card.
It will be the first outing for Moras since Sept. 7 when she overpowered Georgia’s Liana (She Wolf) Jojua by third-round TKO at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. Asked in her post-fight interview when she wanted to fight again, Moras responded “Let’s do it tomorrow.”
Instead she was booked for UFC 249, originally slated for April 18 in Brooklyn and then Lemoore, Calif., as the UFC looked for a place to stage the fight during the pandemic.
After broadcast partner ESPN stepped in, UFC eventually postponed the pay-per-view card.
Moras (6-5-0) had just ended her last sparring session April 9 when she looked at her phone and saw UFC 249 had been postponed.
“It’s been kind of surreal,” said Moras, a native of Kelowna. B.C. “But I don’t know. I guess you kind of see it all coming together by what’s going on in the world.”
UFC 249 eventually happened Saturday in Jacksonville, and Moras’s bout versus Eubanks was shifted to Wednesday in the second of three cards in a week at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, home of the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen. The main event sees Anthony (Lionheart) Smith, ranked third among light-heavyweight contenders, versus No. 8 Glover Teixeira.
The 35-year-old Eubanks (4-4-0) is ranked 15th among 135-pound contenders. She is 2-2 in the UFC, coming off back-to-back losses to No. 3 Aspen Ladd and No. 13 Bethe Correia.
