This past Saturday at UFC 323 in the featured bout on the main card, we saw a potential title eliminator in the flyweight division. Former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (23-9-2) was looking for his third straight win as he took on Tatsuro Taira (18-1).
Brandon Moreno found himself in a situation on Saturday night where he needed a couple of things to fall his way to earn another shot at the flyweight title. He had won two in a row, but being 0-2 against Alexandre Pantoja, he needed Joshua Van to win the title on Saturday. He also needed to beat Taira before we even got to the co-main.
Taira showed off his speed against Moreno early and got a takedown, but Moreno locked in a triangle choke. While it never got deep enough to secure a finish, it was locked in and Moreno held that position for the entire first round which earned him the round on my scorecard.
In the second round, Taira got another takedown, but this time he got Moreno’s back. Moreno was flattened out and he took some big shots, but he was trying to move and fight out of the position. Mark Smith jumped in and stopped the fight giving Taira the win at UFC 323. Didn’t like the stoppage at all but here we are and Moreno suffered a huge setback.
What’s next after UFC 323?
Brandon Moreno just turned 32 on Sunday the day after his loss, so he’s still around the prime of his career. While it was by injury, Joshua Van is the new flyweight champion and it feels like there’s still opportunity for Moreno to climb the ladder if he wants to do that.
The former UFC champion had hinted at walking away following his split decision loss to Brandon Royval back in February 2024. However, he found his love for the game again and then turned around with two great wins over Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg.
He’s still one of the very best in the world and I hope that he continues fighting after Saturday night. In terms of a next opponent for him, there are a couple of options out there for him. I could see Moreno getting a fight against someone like Asu Almabayev or a Tim Elliott next.
It feels like Taira is going to get a title shot or he’ll be the backup for the next flyweight title fight. With that, I think the UFC will likely look at booking this weekend’s winner between Brandon Royval and Manel Kape against a Kyoji Horiguchi. With that, Moreno could also face the loser of this weekend’s fight which would also make a lot of sense.
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