Despite not getting the result he wanted, Brandon Moreno took it right to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 256.
Moreno (18-5-2 MMA, 6-2-2 UFC), whose back-and-forth battle with the UFC flyweight champion was scored a majority draw, surprised the masses with a gutsy performance. He was able to stand and trade with the champion for five rounds and did not stop coming forward.
With Figueiredo (20-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) scoring devastating finishes in his past four fights, Moreno was able to withstand his power and fire back for 25 minutes in a brilliant showcase of flyweight action.
“I’m happy because the fight was amazing,” Moreno told MMA Junkie. “I’m happy because I showed to the people that Deiveson Figueiredo is a human being just like me. I put a lot of pressure on him in some points in the fight, and I’m not angry, just disappointed at the result and that’s it. But Dana (White) was saying I have the rematch next year so I’ll be ready for that.”
“I need to make another game plan for him, but now I have the confidence because I felt his power,” he continued. “Everybody talks too much about his power, about how he’s amazing, how he’s indestructible, but again, I showed the world that he’s a human being just like me.”
White, who dubbed the scrap as a “Fight of the Year” contender, is planning on booking a rematch between Figueiredo and Moreno after the two take time to rest and heal up, having fought a five-round battle three weeks after both earned victories at UFC 255.
And with both men taking a significant amount of damage in their fight, Moreno is looking to take some time off and hopefully run things back with the champion in the first quarter of 2021.
“I need to take the last weeks of the month to spend time with my family, to spend time for myself, to clear my mind a little bit,” Moreno said. “I need to watch how my body feels in the next month and starting 2021. After that if I feel good, I can fight in March or April. In a perfect world, April sounds like a good date for me.”