After falling short at UFC Mexico, what’s next for Brandon Moreno?

This past Saturday night in the main event of UFC Mexico, we saw a very intriguing matchup in the flyweight division. Former champion Brandon Moreno (23-10-1) was looking to get back on track as he took on unranked prospect Lone’er Kavanagh (10-1).

Originally, Moreno was supposed to take on Asu Almabayev but after an injury, Kavanagh stepped in on just a few weeks’ notice. Moreno was a decent betting favorite, but this fight did give me a little pause given how talented of a striker Kavanagh is.

We’ve seen Moreno struggle with really good strikers and I expected him to struggle here. That said, I thought his championship experience and cardio would allow him to control the final three rounds and win a decision. It seemed like he was trying to do that at UFC Mexico, but the takeover just never happened.

Moreno had moments of control, but he was never really doing a lot of damage. The scorecards actually somehow make this fight seem closer than it actually was. It was a crystal clear decision for Lone’er Kavanagh when the cards were read on Saturday night.

What’s next after UFC Mexico?

Call it an overreaction, but my first main take after this fight was that Brandon Moreno’s days as a top-tier flyweight are over. Yes, he’s a former champion and yes he’s only 32-years-old, but it’s clear to me that he’s just not at the same level as the guys at the top of the division.

His two recent wins came against Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg. That Albazi win hasn’t aged well at all and even in the Erceg fight, I wasn’t overly impressed with Moreno. He then got finished by Tatsuro Taira and dominated by Lone’er Kavanagh in Mexico City.

He’s still a top-ten guy in the UFC, but he’s not top-five material if you ask me. In terms of what’s next, I think you should pair him against someone like Asu Almabayev and just run that fight back.

If he falls to Almabayev, then you really have to start questioning whether the former champion is even top-ten material anymore. He’s going to have a ton to prove in his next fight.