This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 270, we saw the third installment of a flyweight rivalry. Brandon Moreno (19-6-2) was looking to defend his flyweight championship against the former champion Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2-1).
These two first met back in December of 2020. The fight was razor close and they fought to a draw. However, if Figueiredo hadn’t thrown a kick that landed low, he would’ve walked away with his hand raised.
Then, they fought again last summer. Moreno dominated the fight and stopped Figueiredo to become the UFC flyweight champion. Immediately, the trilogy fight was booked between the two men.
It was evident from the opening minutes that this was going to be a much different fight. In the early portions of the fight, I was liking the way Moreno was looking. However, Figueiredo was connecting with big attacks.
He was doing big damage to the legs of Moreno and in the middle rounds, he dropped Moreno a couple of times. The final round was extremely close. I thought Figueiredo did enough at UFC 270 and all three judges did as well and he once again became the flyweight champion.
What’s next after UFC 270?
So far, we have seen three fights between Figueiredo and Moreno. The results have been different each time with each men winning a fight and there being one draw. The immediate thought after UFC 270 is to do the fight a fourth time.
However, is that the direction the UFC will go in? If they do the fight a fourth time, it would be almost two years where the title was being contested between Figueiredo and Moreno. While no fans would likely complain, the top contenders might take issue.
With that in mind, I’m not convinced the fourth fight will be next. Certainly I’m not saying it won’t happen, but it’s not the only option. One fight to watch out for is the fight between Kai Kara-France (23-9) and Askar Askarov (14-0-1).
These two men fight in March and I could see the winner getting the next title shot. In the meantime, Moreno might get another fight and if Figueiredo and Moreno both win, the fourth fight could be setup for either the end of the year or sometime in early 2023.