Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 256 goes down live in Vegas.
Today’s show will feature a title fight in the flyweight division on top. In the headliner, Deiveson Figueiredo will look to make UFC history as he defends his title twice in 21 days against top contender Brandon Moreno. In the co-main, Tony Ferguson returns to the Octagon to face off with Charles Oliveira, who is on a seven-fight winning streak.
This post will cover the main card.
Today’s show is a standard PPV, but Covid has taken it down a notch. There is one Fight Pass fight, which should kick off around 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT. Things will move to ESPN 2 and ESPN+ for four more fights at 8 ET, and then we’ll go over to PPV at 10pm ET as per the norm.
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
Round 1 – Figueiredo comes out with a spinning back kick to the body. Moreno with a nice jab, after he got tagged with one. Figueiredo looks for a takedown but Moreno deftly defends. He gets Figueiredo’s back briefly and then tries to settle into guard, but Figueiredo uses a helicopter sweep to get up. Body shot from Figueiredo. Moreno ducks two shots and digs to the body. They’re both throwing haymakers. Figueiredo cracks Moreno to the body. Hard jab from Figgy. Moreno slips on a head kick. Figueiredo tries to jump into his guard but Moreno trips him long enough to get up. That was slick. Figueiredo lands a nice right hook over the top. Moreno misses with a high kick. Figueiredo jumps in with a left hook to the body and a right hook to the chin. Moreno swings and misses. So does Figgy. Moreno clips Figueirerdo with a left hook and a head kick. Figueiredo with his own head kick. And an elbow. Hard straight right. Again. Jab from Moreno. Good round. 10-9 Figueiredo.
Round 2 – Moreno lands right away. Figueiredo with a spinning back kick to the body. Moreno fires back and lands a nice jab afterward. Leg kick from Figgy. Moreno scores to the body and just misses the chin with a left hook. Figueiredo with two straight lefts and a pretty jab. Moreno strikes back. Low kick from Figueiredo.AGain. Moreno with a trip takedown. Eye poke though, the action is stopped. They take about a minute, and restart them on the ground with Moreno in Figueiredo’s full guard. Figgy dumps him off immediately and they trade big shots on the feet! Figueiredo gets the best of it. Moreno with a nice right that may have hurt Figueiredo. Moreno gets eye poked it looked like, but he grabs onto Figgy and drags him to the ground. Not for long though. Figueiredo with a body kick. Nice step-in uppercut from Figueiredo. 10-9 Figueiredo. Good fight.
Round 3 – Moreno’s eye is swelling up very quickly. They trade jabs. Huge overhand right from Figueiredo! Moreno charges in with a kick to the body and a left hook. Massive body shot from Figueiredo. Body kick. Right hook and a nasty body shot from Figueiredo. Moreno just takes it and fires back. Double tough. Front kick to the body from Figgy. Moreno gets a body lock and looks for a takedown. Figueiredo manages to stay upright. Jab from Moreno. He misses with a haymaker. Figueiredo does too. Back to the jab for Moreno. Hard left hook for Figueiredo. Moreno with a nice elbow. Back and forth. Figueiredo with a huge left hook! Again Moreno just walks right through it. Left and a right from Moreno. Oooooh very low kick right to the cup. You could hear that. Moreno is in a ton of pain. He’s dry heaving. Ugh. The ref takes a point for Figueiredo. Moreno restarts in about three minutes. Figueiredo gets a quick takedown and he stacks Moreno up. He’s looking for the guillotine but can’t get it. Low kick from Moreno after they reset. Overhand right hook from Moreno. And a left hook. Figueiredo swings and misses. 10-8 Moreno.
Round 4 – Figueiredo looks for a flying knee and lands it to the body. Nice jab. Again. Big left hook. Moreno tags him right back to the body and head! They’re throwing down! Left scores for Moreno after a Figueiredo head kick. A Moreno kick wobbles the champ! He recovers and lands a nice right hook though. Figueiredo looks for a takedown but Moreno reverses it and ends up on top! Figgy has his back to the cage and Moreno steps over, but Figgy gets up and land a right hook. He goes body head. Huge uppercut from Figueiredo! Moreno eats it. Elbow and a superman punch from the champ. They both just hurt each other with big shots! They’re both wobbly! Figueiredo lands two hard jabs and a right hook. This is awesome. Moreno with a right. They trade lefts. Beauty jab from Moreno lands hard. Figueiredo jumps in with a hard right. Moreno with a takedown into mount! One minute left in the round. He’s back to half guard. They stall out a bit on the ground. Moreno backs out, then jumps back in with a left. Figueiredo jumps up and throws a wild back fist! Moreno tags him! WOW! 10-9 Moreno.
Round 5 – Slower pace, finally. Head kick from Figueiredo. Another one. Moreno swings and misses. Figueiredo with a three-punch combo. He wildly swings and misses. Moreno isn’t throwing anything. Moreno’s left arm might be broken. It’s jacked up. Figueiredo is just walking forward with his hands down. Body kick from Figueiredo is caught, but he can’t do anything with it. Overhand right from Figgy. He jumps in with a left hook. Moreno’s offense has wilted. Finally he opens up to throw a counter but slips and misses. Figueiredo is piecing him up from the outside. Left hook from Moreno. Warrior. Jab from Figueiredo. Straight right from Moreno and he clinches up. Knees to the thigh from Moreno. They’re bot exhausted. Moreno looks for a takedown but Figueiredo throws him to the mat and drops two big shots. 10-9 Figueiredo, and I have it a 47-47 draw.
Deiveison Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno go to a majority draw (47-46, 47-47, 47-47)
Tony Ferguson vs. Charles Oliveira
Round 1 – Front kick from Oliveira. Again. Ferguson reaches with the jab and gets out of range. Oliveira wades in and Ferguson spins. Right over the top for Do Bronx, and a head kick! A left lands for Ferguson, but Oliveira scores with a forearm shot. Oliveira with a takedown right into side. Ferguson gets it back to half, but gets clipped with an elbow. Oliveira deftly steps over into mount, and there’s still half a round left. Ferguson is trying to lock him down. Oliveira is taking his time. He’s landing a few short shots here and there. Ferguson tries to dump him off but can’t. A couple of elbows get through for Oliveira. He rolls for an armbar! He’s got it! His arm looked like it popped but he didn’t tap! THE HORN GOES OFF! WHOA! 10-8 Oliveira.
Round 2 – Ferguson comes out throwing kicks. His arm is jacked up. Leg kicks from Oliveira. Oliveira catches a kick and dumps El Cucuy to the mat. He stacks him up against the cage. Ferguson lands an upkick but it’s illegal because Oliveira is grounded. He’s busted wide open, but it happened right before that, not from the upkick. Oliveira is taking his time to recover. The ref puts them back in the same position and they restart. Oliveira is pinning Ferguson’s legs down. Ferguson is trying to spin and wall walk. Oliveira drops a few rights to Ferguson’s face. Oliveira settles into top position and has Ferguson stacked up awkwardly. More punches. Ferguson is trying to roll to attack a leg but there’s nothing doing. Oliveira lands a few knees to the body and legs. Oliveira pins an arm, briefly. He’s in complete control. Ferguson is looking for an inverted triangle. Oliveira is just being patient. 10-9 Oliveira.
Charles Oliveira defeated Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Round 3 – Ferguson presses the action right away, but eats a leg kick. Oliveira just picks Ferguson up and slams him to the mat, almost immediately in mount. It’s like three-quarter mount right now. He gets mount, then rolls over with a secured triangle! Ferguson gets out of it but Oliveira sits in side control. Completely in control. Elbows from Oliveira. He’s happy just maintaining position. Ferguson is frustrated but he can’t do anything about it. By far the best performance of Oliveira’s career, he completely dominated the entire fight. 10-9 and 30-26 Oliveira.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
Round 1 – Dern missses with a jab. She does land an inside leg kick. Dern wades in with two right hooks. Jandiroba with an overhand right that connects. Two more rights from Dern. Jandiroba lands as Dern tries to kick the legs. Dern with a nice counter right hook. Dern corners Jandiroba and lands two good punches. Overhand right scores for Jandiroba again. They trade shots but Dern gets the best of it. She’s working on a single-leg takedown against the cage. Jandiroba is defending well. They trade knees to the body and break. Body kick and a left from Jandiroba. Dern didn’t like that. She land a knee but eats a right hook in the process. Dern ducks a big overhand right. Dern snaps out a jab after Jason Parillo tells her to try it. Knee from Dern, body kick from Jandiroba. 10-9 Dern.
Round 2 – Jabs from both women. Slower pace than the first round so far. Jandiroba clinches. They trade knees against the fence. Jandiroba lands a big one and a right hook on the break. Jandiroba lands a forearm shiver to Dern’s forehead. Eye poke. They take an extended break. Dern eats a knee on the restart that busts her nose wide open. Tons of blood. Jandiroba takes her down and blood is pouring into Dern’s eyes. Dern immediately looks for something from the bottom. She’s trying to hammerfist from the bottom but Jandiroba’s wrist control is good. 10-9 Jandiroba.
Round 3 – They hug to start. Jandiroba lands a right as Dern tries to throw a spinning backfist, without success. Dern cracks her opponent with a jab and dives in on a single leg. Jandiroba clips her in close and defends the takedown attempt. They reset. Body kick from Dern. Jandiroba lands a jab to the nose that gets the blood flowing again. Dern with a jab and a right hook that staggers Jandiroba! She immediately looks for a takedown but Jandiroba defends again. She dumps Dern down and takes top position with 2:20 to go. Dern with an upkick and she’s butt scooting all the way to the middle of the cage. The ref stands her up. Dern mises with an uppercut. Jandiroba lands hard. Short elbow from Jandiroba. She lands another nice shot. Dern sticks the jab. Dern spins and misses. Jab from Jandiroba. Uppercut in close from Dern. She looks for a takedown, but still can’t get it. Jandiroba looks for a flying armbar and drops to her back. Dern is on top while Jandiroba looks for a leg lock. Dern lands a hammerfist at the horn. 10-9 and 29-28 Dern.
Mackenzie Dern defeated Virna Jandiroba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kevin Holland vs. Ronaldo Souza
Round 1 – Holland jumps in with a right hook but gets taken down right away. He’s looking to post up a triangle on Jacare Souza. Lols. He does land a nice elbow from the bottom though. Jacare passes to side but Holland pops up to his feet. They fight against the fence, and Holland was trying to pull guard with a guillotine. Jacare sluffed it off and works in his full guard. Holland says “I dreamed of this”. Holland lands a massive right hook from a seated position and Jacare is hurt! Jacare is bent over backwards on his knees eating huge shots, and it’s over! Jacare almost fell off the stool when he managed to get up! WOW!
Kevin Holland defeated Jacare Souza via KO (punches), 1:45 of round 1
Junior dos Santos vs. Ciryl Gane
Round 1 – Both light on their feet early, but not much happening. Inside leg kick from Gane. He gets a front headlock briefly and they battle on the fence. JDS checks an inside leg kick. The next one lands clean. JDS counters a kick with a jab. Body kick from Gane. Head kick. Dos Santos lands a jab to the body, and an inside leg kick. JDS continuing to go to the body. Gane has a head kick blocked. Inside leg kick from Gane catches the cup. Cornuts cam confirms. He takes 30 seconds and they restart. Side kicks from Gane. He’s clipping the inside and outside of Junior’s lead leg. Body kick from Gane. Again. Yet again. He’s just lighting up the body and lead leg still. JDS isn’t in range to box. He wildly swings and misses. Spinning back kick from JDS. He cracks Gane with a home run right hook. 10-9 Gane.
Round 2 – Inside leg kick from Gane. Again. Gane stutter steps and kicks the outside of the leg. Both miss with big shots. Junior swings with a back fist and misses. JDS with a right hook behind the ear. Gane clinches briefly. More inside leg kicks from the the French fighter. JDS is checking kicks now. Nice jab from Gane, And JDS is stunned! Gane drops him with a short elbow and pounds him out!
Ciryl Gane defeated Junior dos Santos via TKO (strikes), 2:34 of round 2
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