When Brandon Moreno walked out of the tunnel for his UFC flyweight title challenge against Deiveson Figueiredo last Saturday night, the crowd roared. When the two fighters faced off in the first round, they chanted in unison, “MORENO! MORENO!” And when Moreno completed his Cinderella story by finishing Figueiredo with a rear-naked choke to become the UFC’s first-ever Mexican-born champion, a sold-out Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona came absolutely unglued.
The whole time, I couldn’t stop thinking one thing. When have you ever heard a UFC crowd react like this for a flyweight?
The UFC flyweight division has had some unbelievable fighters during its near decade-long existence, but for whatever reason, it’s always been treated as the red-headed stepchild of the organization’s men’s weight classes. Demetrious Johnson was regarded as perhaps the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world during his record-setting title reign from 2012-18, but the UFC never promoted him on the same level as its other champions, and he was unceremoniously shipped off to ONE after he finally lost the belt.
He was replaced by Henry Cejudo, undisputedly one of the most gifted fighters to ever grace the sport of mixed martial arts, an Olympic gold medalist who went up in weight and won the bantamweight title while still holding 125-pound gold. He retired – almost undoubtedly as a negotiating tactic – after winning his second title last May, and the UFC hasn’t cared enough to actually pay him what he wants to return.
All the while, the division has been relentlessly plagued by rumors that it will be axed entirely. Only with Figueiredo’s brilliant 2020, where he emerged as one of the most ever-present violent forces of the empty-arena era, did that talk seem to abate somewhat. Figueiredo himself may not be long for this weight class – he’s had trouble making the cut to 125 pounds, and there’s been much speculation, some of it from the former champion himself, that he may make the move up to 135 soon.
So it felt right that Moreno was the man to receive the torch. It only made it better that he received it in front of a crowd that was going absolutely crazy for him, whether it as because of his exciting fighting prowess, or just because he’s Mexican. Either way, when you watched him break down in tears after winning the title, when you watched a respectful Figueiredo pick the new champion up on his shoulders, and when you watched his emotional post-fight promo, it felt like seeing a major, major moment in the career of a new UFC superstar. To borrow a term from pro wrestling, he looked like the biggest babyface in the world.
Not only is Moreno a brilliant fighter and a friendly and relatable personality, he has a fantastic underdog story. He grew up in Tijuana, in a family that literally makes pinatas for a living. When he made it onto the cast of the Ultimate Fighter‘s 24th season in 2016, he was the last fighter out of 16 picked, and lost in the first round. He was cut from the UFC after a two-fight losing streak in 2018. And he came up short in his first title challenge last December: although it was scored a draw because Figueiredo was deducted a point for a kick to the groin in round 3, Moreno would have lost a unanimous decision.
He put on an incredibly brave performance even so, and the fact that he had gone to a draw with the world champion mandated a rematch. His first fight with Figueiredo was an incredible five-round war, one where both men took and received hellacious punishment, but it was in front of an empty UFC Apex. In a packed arena on Saturday night, Moreno looked on a different level.
Figueiredo looked much more cautious and respectful of Moreno’s ability this time around, allowing Moreno to get out to a hot start that he sustained throughout the fight. Moreno out-struck the champion two-to-one, putting together some great body-head combinations, spinning him to the floor with a perfectly timed jab in the first round, threatening him on the ground, and generally looking much sharper and faster. Figueiredo never got out of first gear. Moreno’s jab was on target all night, but Figueiredo made himself easy to time by throwing one big, wound-up shot at a time – and when Moreno got the chance to press for the submission on the ground, all of Figueiredo’s vaunted strength and power couldn’t save him.
The combination of Moreno’s excellent performance, the reaction of the crowd, and the overall emotion of the moment, could combine to make Moreno the first real superstar the UFC has ever had at flyweight – if they choose to invest in him as such. The idea that Moreno could give them a bankable star in the Mexican market could help. This could be a guy who sells tickets, becomes a household name.
It just seems too perfect. The UFC better not mess this up.
The Big Fight 