We got to witness arguably the greatest flyweight fight in the history of the division at UFC 256. Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1-1) and Brandon Moreno (18-5-2) fought to a draw in what was an absolute war.
The champion, Figueiredo, was looked at as unstoppable heading into UFC 256. Figueiredo had looked like a destroyer and it was hard to imagine anyone giving him a tough fight at 125 pounds.
However, that didn’t intimidate Brandon Moreno at all. Moreno was willing to accept the challenge and he wasn’t going to back away no matter what the champion threw at him. The UFC champion threw everything he had at Moreno and Moreno wouldn’t back down.
The fight between the two men was an instant classic and might be the UFC‘s fight of the year. The fight saw Figueiredo land some incredibly big power shots, but Moreno kept coming despite them.
Moreno came on really strong in the middle rounds of the fight. In the middle of all of this, Figueiredo landed an accidental groin shot which put Moreno down for a few minutes. The referee took a point from the UFC champion and the two fought on.
I had the fight 2-2 going into the final round. Figueiredo really came on strong in the fifth round and I had it 3-2. However, the point made it a draw and that is how the judges ended up scoring the fight.
UFC President wants the rematch
After the fight was over, Dana White took to the podium at the post-fight press conference to give his thoughts. He said that there will definitely be a rematch between Figueiredo and Moreno after UFC 256.
It makes complete sense for the promotion given the way the fight went down and the result. Not only was the fight a classic, but we got no clarity because of the draw. Granted, most believe Figueiredo won three of the five rounds.
Nevertheless, Moreno had an incredible performance. There were not many out there that believed he could hang with the UFC champion. He proved tonight he can and it looks like were going to get an immediate rematch to see if he can do it again.