Deiveson Figueiredo And Brandon Moreno Put On A Fight Of The Year Contender At UFC 256

Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1-1) retained the flyweight championship after a majority draw against Brandon Moreno (18-5-2) in an instant classic in the main event of UFC 256 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Figueiredo and Moreno traded stiff shots to open the bout before the champ locked up the challenger for a takedown. Moreno fought him off, opting to stand and trade blows. For every heavy-handed body shot Figueiredo landed, Moreno countered with a swift hook followed by a head kick attempt. The two kept a blistering pace as Figueiredo consistently walked down the challenger through the end of the first round.

Figueiredo opened the second with a spinning heel kick to the body, but Moreno kept coming forward with shot after shot. Moreno caught Figueiredo with a body lock, slamming him to the ground. Figueiredo countered and as they returned to their feet, traded a slew of punches before continuing their chess game. Figueiredo hurt Moreno with a flurry of shots, but the challenger went right back to the body lock and took Figueiredo to the ground. Moreno’s right eye was a source of interest between rounds, as he was in clear pain stemming from a huge shot toward the end of the round.

Moreno and Figueiredo threw some bombs to open the third as the pair flew around the Octagon trading massive blows. Moreno locked up the champ again, pushing him against the cage, but was unable to take him to the ground. Figueiredo found his range, consistently connecting on massive left body punchs, but Moreno kept coming forward. Figueiredo dropped Moreno with a nasty low blow that Joe Rogan called “one of the worst ones ever.” The referee took a point from Figueiredo before they started the action again. Back on their feet, Moreno landed a big overhand right to close the round.

Moreno and Figueiredo traded shots again to open the championship round, with the champ connecting on a jaw-smacking hook before the challenger put together a big body-head combo. Moreno stunned Figueiredo with a head kick, then took the champ to the ground. Exhausted, Figueiredo threw everything he had in the middle of the fourth before Moreno hurt him with another big right hook. Figueiredo walked down Moreno as the challenger continued to pour jabs to his head.

Figueiredo traded shots with Moreno, finding his spots in the final round and stunning the challenger with a big overhand right. Moreno developed a massive bump on his left forearm after blocking a handful of gigantic kicks from the champ. Figueiredo took Moreno to the ground late, dropping heavy hands before the end of the round.

After Figueiredo (20-1) dispatched Alex Perez within two minutes at UFC 255, UFC president Dana White announced his intentions to turn the champ around just 21 days later at UFC 256.

Moreno was 4-0-1 in his last five bouts with the knockout at UFC 255, three decisions and a draw. Figueiredo has been dominant since losing the only fight of his career in March of last year to Jussier Formiga. After missing weight in his initial bout with Joseph Benavidez in February, Figueiredo submitted Benavidez to win the division crown in July. Figueiredo has to be upset with himself as that low blow cost him an outright win, but given this was a fight of the year contender, we’ll see if we get a rematch in 2021 to settle the score after the majority draw decision — something some prominent UFC fighters watching from home voiced support for.

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