In just the past few weeks, Brandon Moreno was forced to leave his long-time coach James Krause ahead of his UFC title bout.

James Krause is at the center of an MMA gambling scandal. The UFC has banned any fighter who is associated with Krause either as a manager or coach.

At UFC 286, Mexico’s Moreno will battle his continuous Brazilian rival Deiveson Figueiredo on January 21 with the UFC flyweight world title on the line.

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Brandon Moreno on finding a new coach

Brandon Moreno was able to capture the UFC flyweight throne under the tutelage of James Krause. Just weeks ahead of his title fight he has experienced a major stress to change gyms.

While speaking in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, he said:

“What’s hard when everything started…I was in Kansas City when the news came out. I had a long conversation with James, he told me the situation, and in that moment, I decided to turn the page quickly and decide what I wanted to do…next Monday I was in Las Vegas. The good part, the gameplan was already done, so I was ready to go by myself with my coaches.”

Moreno chose the Fortis MMA head coach to help him get prepared for UFC 286. The Mexican-born athlete continued:

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I decided to work with Sayif Saud, the coach of Fortis MMA. He’s very close with [my manager]…I feel very comfortable with him. It was very simple to work with him, and we closed this training camp in the best way possible.” [Transcript courtesy of MMA News]

See the full interview below:

Timothy Wheaton is a combat sports writer who covers MMA, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai. He has been an avid follower of these sports since 2005. Tim has even covered the UFC, GLORY Kickboxing, and Bellator in person at live events. With Low Kick MMA, Tim has contributed interviews, articles, and podcasts. Tim also works with a host of other media sites such as Calf Kick Sports, Sportskeeda MMA, MMA Sucka, Vecht Sport Info, Fighters First, and Beyond Kickboxing. Tim is is the authority on kickboxing and MMA journalist who has covered K-1, PRIDE FC, UFC, GLORY Kickboxing, Bellator, ONE Championship, and plenty more.