Brandon Moreno became the UFC’s new flyweight champion tonight at UFC 263 by defeating flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo in style – controlling the early action, hurting him on the feet and then finally submitting him on the mat in the third round.
Round One:
Moreno pumps out the jab to start without connecting. He goes low to the body with a punch. Inside leg kick for him.
Again Moreno pumps out the jab and the final one does land. Body punch and then a left hook from the challenger.
Figueiredo patient for now. Good jab for Moreno. One-two from him. Stepping knee to the body from Figueiredo.
Heavy left hook to the body from Figueiredo. Leg kick for Moreno. Hard left hand from Moreno and then clinches briefly.
Leg kick from Moreno behind punches. Calf kick from Figueiredo. Right hand for him. Moreno clinches up, lands a knee to the body and then breaks away.
Stepping elbow from Figueiredo as Moreno lands a left hand on the counter. Body punch and one over the top from Moreno.
Figueiredo with a calf kick. Side kick attempt to the body from him. Hook kick attempt from Figueiredo misses.
Jab from Moreno as Figueiredo was moving in and it hurts the champion, who staggers back. Moreno able to get on top on the mat now.
Moreno being patient, but Figueiredo gets time to recover and then does nice to transition back to his feet. Swing and a miss from Figueiredo. High kick attempt from Moreno. Good round for the challenger.
Round Two:
Body punch from Moreno. He gets caught with a counter as they exchange. Moreno with a jab and Figueiredo landed there too.
Figueiredo lands a punch and now works for a takedown and lands it well. Moreno trying to scramble, but Figueiredo stays in control in half-guard for now.
A few elbows to the thigh from Figueiredo as Moreno on one hip. Figueiredo thinking about a potential guillotine choke, but Moreno stays out of that.
Figueiredo looks for that choke again and Moreno is able to scramble on top. They go back upright and Moreno has Figueiredo’s back against the cage and lands some hard knees to the backside.
Moreno working a takedown of his own now and lands it. He’s working in Figueiredo’s full guard. Short elbow from the bottom from Figueiredo. He picks his moment to land another one.
Two more elbow strikes from Figueiredo and now Moreno is sporting a contusion close to his eye.
Figueiredo tries to scramble up, but Moreno adjusts and stays on top in full guard. He eats another elbow strike though.
No real offense from Moreno here, but he ends the round on top.
Round Three:
Body kick for Figueiredo. jab for him. Spinning kick to the body from the champ. Moreno with a jab. Figueiredo lands a harder jab of his own. Moreno with a leg kick.
Winging hook for Figueiredo. Moreno darts into a takedown, eats a punch, but then goes on to complete the takedown anyway and quickly is able to get the back.
Not only that, but Moreno is now swiftly working on a rear-naked choke attempt. Figueiredo having to hang tough here and survives that attempt.
He’s trying for it again though and doesn’t quite get it under the chin, but soon after he suddenly has his arm sunk under the chin of Figueiredo and there’s no way he’s getting out from this one! Sure enough, just moments later Figueiredo taps out, and we have a new flyweight champion – Brandon Moreno!
Moreno certainly thoroughly deserved this unforgettable moment in his career with a great performance from start to finish in which he had a chance to showcase his skills on the feet and the mat to end Figueiredo’s reign – though it might not be too long before there’s talk of a trilogy fight between these two.
