Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC 270, we will see the third installment of a budding rivalry in the flyweight division. Former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2-1) will be looking to regain his title as he takes on the current undisputed flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (19-5-2).
For Figueiredo, he’s going to be looking to bounce back after losing the title to Moreno. These two men first fought in December of 2020 and virtually no one was giving Moreno a chance. However, Moreno showed the world that he could compete with Figueiredo. The two men fought to a draw that night.
In the rematch, Moreno completely dominated and won the UFC flyweight title. Since then, Figueiredo has completely changed up his training. He has moved his camp to Arizona where he trains with former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. In fact, Cejudo will be in his corner at UFC 270.
The former champion has taken this fight very seriously and looked better than ever at the weight-ins. However, it’s going to take his best efforts to regain the title. Brandon Moreno looked better by miles when they fought at UFC 263 and it’ll be interesting if he can repeat that.
UFC 270 Prediction
I honestly wouldn’t mind if both of these men fought ten times. That’s how good I think they both are and I believe that they are very evenly matched. I don’t believe Moreno is that much better than Figueiredo. I think the second fight was more of a case of Figueiredo fighting horribly and Moreno having the best performance of his career.
If they both fight to their best at UFC 270, this is going to be another classic fight. One thing Moreno has on Figueiredo is speed. That was one thing that really stood out in the rematch was how much faster Moreno was. However, Figueiredo still is going to hold a big power advantage.
One area to watch at UFC 270 is the quick grappling exchanges. We’ve seen both of these men jump on submissions insanely quickly and finish fights. If one slips up, the other can quickly take advantage. I keep going back-and-forth on my pick for this fight.
Something in my gut says that Deiveson Figueiredo is going to recapture the UFC title tomorrow night. I think he’s going to catch Moreno with a big shot and then catch a submission in a scramble. Ultimately, I think this will end up setting up a fourth fight between the two men.
Prediction: Deiveson Figueiredo by Submission (Round 2 – Guillotine Choke)