Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figeuiredo met for the third straight time with the UFC Flyweight strap on the line. In the first fight, Figeuiredo retained the championship belt in a draw. In that fight, Figeuiredo was deducted a point in the third round for a low blow which turned two 48-47 scorecards in Figeuiredo’s favor into 47-47 scores, resulting in the majority draw. The UFC opted for the immediate rematch, and Moreno became the UFC’s first Mexican born fighter to become champion when he stopped Figeuiredo in the third round of their title clash at UFC 263 by rear naked choke. With Figeuiredo winning this fight by very close margin, the trilogy now stands at 1-1-1 and a fourth fight may between these combatants may come next.
Round 1 started fairly slow as there was not a ton of significant action the first minute plus. Figeuiredo did have some success early with outside low kicks, a tactic he continued to employ throughout the early rounds. Moreno at one point landed the rarely seen spinning low kick and then quickly followed with a hard inside low quick in an entertaining sequence. Midway through the round Moreno landed a looping right hand that may have hurt Figeuiredo as the Brazilian backed up with a big smile on his face. Figeuiredo landed a couple of nice punches and a front kick near end the round. At the end of the round, Figeuiredo landed another low kick as Moreno then ripped Figeuiredo to the body twice as the horn sounded. Round 1 was very likely Figeuiredo’s round.
Round 2 started with a flurry of action from both fighters and Moreno seemed to land the cleanest blow with a nice left hand. Figeuiredo continued to attack and land with outside low kicks. Figeuiredo landed 14 low kicks in the first six minutes of the fight. Moreno scored a brief takedown off of a Figeuiredo spinning attack but Figeuiredo was able to quickly scramble and get back to the feet. Figeuiredo landed a nice front kick and continued to work the outside low kicks. Toward the end of the round, Figeuiredo landed a clean right hand but Moreno later answered with a big left hand that appeared to hurt Figeuiredo.
Round 3 saw Figeuiredo pressing forward aggressively. Figeuiredo scored a takedown early in the round but Moreno was able to work his way back to the feet fairly quickly. Figeuiredo however was able to secure a back lock and landed a nice knee to the body. A big left hand by Figeuiredo then sent Moreno stumbling backwards before falling down. Moreno had a nice moment with a big left hand that stunned Figeuiredo but Figeuiredo was able to recover well. Moreno outpaced Figeuiredo by a fairly significant margin in both Round 2 and Round 3, but Figeuiredo’s strikes appeared to do a but more damage as a huge right hand at the end of the round dropped Moreno.
In Round 4, Figeuiredo continued with his low kick attack and Moreno’s movement started to appear a bit compromised and showed significant swelling. As the round progressed, however, Figeuiredo appeared to slow down. Late in the round Figeuiredo was able to secure a body lock and landed a few nice knees. Moreno was able to break free, though and appeared to get the better of a wild exchange.
Moreno began Round 5 with a high pace as he may have sensed he needed the round to secure the victory. Moreno secured an early body lock and trip takedown that saw him finish in side control. Figeuiredo once more showed well to get back to the feet after being taken down. Moreno continued to put on a higher pace as the round progressed. A big right hand by Figeuiredo then dropped Moreno for the third time in the fight. Moreno was able to quickly recover and then landed a hard shot of his own. As the round wound down in the last twenty second the fighters threw caution to the wind and engaged in a wild exchange. Both fighters appeared to land big left hands at the end of the fight.
After the fight, won by Figeuiredo (48-47 on all three judges’ scorecards), Moreno said that he believed he won the fight on pace. While the statistics did favor the Mexican in terms of number of strikes landed, it is hard to argue with the result and three knockdowns landed by the now two-time flyweight champion Figeuiredo. The co-main event earned fight of the night honors.
