UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno eyes November return, not keen on Deiveson Figueiredo trilogy
New UFC Flyweight Champion, Brandon Moreno (19-5-2) thinks, he has several alternatives for his first-ever title defense. The Mexican fighter wants to get into business in 2021. He is likely to return to the cage in November and he has several names as his next rival. However, a fighting trilogy with former champion Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2-1) is not included in Brendon’s plans.
The Assassin baby dethroned Brazilian fighter at UFC 263. It was the second time they shared the octagon. Their first fight turned out to be very close and it was nominated as the fight of the year. Brazilian lost a point and judges scored that fight draw, so Figueiredo maintained his title.
Figueiredo said that he was very sick before the fight, and on the second fight he would not be left to the referees. To him, unfortunately, he was right and The assassin managed to finish him in the 3rd round via Submission Rear-Naked Choke.
The Assassin baby says that Brazilian needs to earn his title shot. After such a dominant bout by Mexican, he can’t see the sense of trilogy.
Moreno talked to reporters at a UFC media lunch and said:
“I think it’s obvious Figueiredo wants the next one because he lost the last one, but man, last time I dominated him since the first minute of the first round”-“I dominated him in the striking, in the grappling, so obviously I’m open to fight him, but I think he needs to fight with somebody else.”
He stated his opinion about Figueiredo’s weight category. He does not think that Brazilian should be fighting in the flyweight division. Brazilian has only missed weight once and that’s the fact, but Moreno says that his former rival looks more like a 135 pounder fighter.
“I think at bantamweight he can make something better there because he can have more energy there and keep the power in his right hand,” Moreno said. “But man, that’s not my decision. Maybe the people hearing this answer, they can say something like, ‘Oh he’s scared of a third fight with him,’ or something like that but to be honest I’m not.
Moreno said that there are more interesting and deserving matchups for him than making the trilogy against the Brazilian. He names several names for his first title defense. As he said he is considering Cody Garbrandt, Alexander Pantoja, Brandon Royval, and Askar Askarov.
It is noteworthy that he already defeated Brandon Royval via first-round TKO at UFC 255, but Royval was a bit unlucky having an early arm injury during the fight, so the second fight makes sense. He also fought against Askar Askarov, which was Moreno’s first career draw, so a rematch between these fighters makes sense, too.
As he says Cody is the huge fight for him. Nevertheless, Cody is not in the best shape of his career, he is a good name for Mexicans first title defense.
At the end of the interview he said:
“Right now, I’m thinking to get back to the gym and be prepared for October, November. So I don’t care the name, I just want to fight on those dates (November).”