The marquee matchup for ‘UFC 256 – ‘FIGUEIREDO VS MORENO’ was an absolute banger between the promotion’s flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, and the #1 ranked, Brandon Moreno. Both men had their respective moments, and Fig lost a point in the third round, but when it was all said and done the bout was scored a majority draw. Since nobody won the fight, the belt stays with the defending champion. This is surely one of the greatest fights in UFC flyweight history, and there’s a great chance that they run this one back at some point.
Figueiredo got right in the face of Moreno to get things going, backing him up to the fence. The champ tried to get the fight tot he floor, but Moreno did a great job of fighting it off. The jab of Figueiredo was finding a home, and what was coming back his way didn’t seem to faze him much. Fig was getting close to landing a counter overhand right, but Moreno kept moving just out of the way. Moreno started to land with a jab of his own, catching the champ king clean with his hands down.
The champion pressed forward again in the second round, seeing to not respect the power of Moreno. The jab was landing for Moreno, but Fig was clearly landing the harder shots. Moreno scored a bodylock takedown, but an eye poke form Figueiredo paused the match. The fight resumed with Moreno on top, but a scramble quickly broke out and the fight went back to its feet. Moreno stung the champ with a blistering overhand right, and then just as he began to get the better of the exchanges, Fig unleashed a flurry to not let Moreno gain too much steam.
Both men came out ready to brawl, swinging and landing with their respective combos. Moreno was the faster fighter, launching his volume in the face of danger. The defense of Figueiredo just wasn’t there. He was eating what clean punches, despite him walking right through them. Then, Figueiredo kicked Moreno right int he cup. Moreno quickly crashed to the floor, dry heaving in agony. The referee deducted one-point from Figueiredo for the infraction.
The jab of Figueiredo had the head of Moreno snapping back to start the fourth frame. Moreno responded with a boxing combo of his own, piercing the pours defense of the champ. He then went upstairs with a kick that briefly wobbled Fig. Moreno seemed to be taking over. They brawled again, slugging it out with Moreno wobbling Fig yet again. Figueiredo scored with a thudding series of punches, but Moreno quickly hit a takedown. Back on the feet, Moreno cracked Fig with a nasty group of punches just beef the bell.
The champ came out launching a trio of body kicks at the challenger to start the final round. The pace slowed a bit, and Moreno had a nasty hematoma form on his forearm. The output of Moreno dwindled quite a bit while the champion was being a bit more active. From the clinch, Figueiredo hit a toss in the closing moments of the match to finish the round on top dropping bombs.
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno ends in majority draw (47-46, 47-47 x2): Flyweight Title
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