If the heavyweight main even was the main course, the flyweight title fight in the co-main was the best appetizer you've had in awhile. A third fight between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo gave us a second close decision, with Figueiredo regaining his title. I personally had the fight scored 48-47 for Moreno, but I can't disagree with almost any score. The only round that was universally agreed upon was the second round for Moreno. This fight felt weird to watch. It felt extremely high level, but it also felt like either guy could have definitively gotten the win with just a minor adjustment. Let's just talk about the fighters now.
I'll go back to my normal format of talking about the winner first. Deiveson Figueiredo looked so much better this time around. First and foremost, he got his weight situation in order and that might have been the most important aspect for him. We all knew Figueiredo had the skills to compete with Moreno, but his weight situation last time didn't allow him to do so. I think training with Henry Cejudo was another huge aspect of this fight for Deiveson. I believe that Henry not only contributed to Figueiredo's weight situation being in order, but also his in fight strategy. As annoying as he may be at times, Cejudo is one of the best MMA fighters of his time and one of the legends of the sport, especially of those lower weight classes. Having a mind like Henry's and his experience to lean on for Figueiredo is such a resource and I don't take that lightly at all. I'll first go over what I think Figueiredo did well. The thing that really got him the win was his power. We all knew Figueiredo would likely have the power advantage and contrary to what the commentators were saying, he did. The big power strikes ultimately proved to be the difference for him. The second biggest thing for Deiveson was his leg kicks. Those kicks added up rather quickly and limited Moreno's movement. Having a more stationary Moreno allowed the fight to take place at more of Figueiredo's pace and that was a key for him. That gets me right into the third thing Figueiredo did really well. I'll call it his overall preparation. Figueiredo came in with a great strategy and improved cardio. His cardio had been an issue at times, but he had a much more stable foundation on which to fight upon this time. He was never going to have the same cardio as Moreno, but he closed the gap significantly this time around and that allowed him to stay in the fight much longer. I think the biggest strength for Figueiredo was his ability to mix things up. He didn't have a ton of success with his takedowns, but offering the threat kept Moreno off balance and unable to predict what he would do next. Just the threat of the takedown allowed more of the punches and kicks to land because he was giving Moreno more to think about. There was a couple weaknesses I noticed as well for Figueiredo that I don't really have an explanation for. The first one was his chin. I don't really know why, but Deiveson seemed to struggle with Moreno's power this time around. Every time he got hit, he seemed to take a step back and had to recover. I'm not saying I could take those punches, but that just stood out as being different even from the fight he lost. He did weigh in well below the limit, so maybe that had something to do with it, but it was just something I noticed. The other main weakness I noticed in Figueiredo was he was just too reliant on the big moments and was falling noticeably behind in the volume. I didn't expect Figueiredo to out-strike Moreno by any means, but I think he will need to do a better job of keeping up if there is a fourth fight. Moreno probably wins that fight if Figueiredo doesn't get the knockout down very late in the 3rd round. Big, explosive actions have always been the name of the game for Deiveson, but he was falling behind in a way that was more noticeable than the first fight. I think in a fourth fight, he needs to let it go a little more, especially late when there's no need to conserve energy anymore. Normally, I would go over what I think could be next for each fighter individually, but these two are so tied together that I think I'll do it as one big section at the end.
This is going to be a weird section. On one hand, I thought Moreno won watching the fight in real time. However, I thought he allowed the fight to be closer than it needed to be at times. I thought Moreno did a lot of things well. His technical boxing and hand speed looked like I expected it to. He had the advantage there and it showed in a lot of the exchanges. He was able to land first and last in most exchanges and he got ahead in the strike count because of it. I think I leaned towards giving Figueiredo the grappling advantage, but Moreno was able to shut that down for the most part. He stuffed most of the takedowns and even the ones that landed, he was able to create scrambles and get back to the feet without being controlled for too long. Those things really should have set up Moreno to win a decision, but he just seemed a little off to me. I think that was the main "weakness" I noticed with Moreno. Its really not even a weakness, it was just something I noticed and I feel like it cost him. Brandon Moreno just didn't seem like himself. I'm not a huge fan of his or anything like that, but it seemed like the moment, maybe in front of a crowd that was behind him, got to him to a degree. He's known as the normal, playful guy who likes Legos and Funko Pop figures and was so relatable when he won. On Saturday, when he got to the cage and he was in his corner snarling like he was a cold blooded killer with an intensity that I've never seen from him before. Throughout the entire fight, he's coming forward with his hands down and shrugging as if Figueiredo couldn't hurt him and it just didn't seem right to me. I don't inherently have a problem with doing those things, but it just seemed so out of character. Moreno was the guy who was never given anything and had to work for every single thing he's ever gotten. He won one fight and got the belt and came out the next time with his hands down and taunting his opponent like featherweight Conor McGregor. Maybe I'm way off base, but that just didn't seem like the Brandon Moreno that won the title. I think his lack of respect for Figueiredo's power is at least in part what cost him. With his hands down, he took more shots than he should have and ended up being dropped. He was taunting instead of piling up an even greater striking differential in a close fight where an extra exchange or two could have swung a judge on a round. I don't know what changed, but I expect to see him dialed back in whenever we see him next.
As for what's next, these two are tied together. A lot of people, maybe even the majority, want to see an immediate fourth fight. Let me be clear when I say that if the UFC does go in that direction, I won't be upset. Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo could fight each other 100 times and it would be close every time. They would likely split those fights 50/50, while never being boring, and I would tune in to watch every single time. With that said, I think 4 fights in a row, with neither guy fighting anyone in between is a little much. I, personally, would like to see Figueiredo defend once, Moreno pick up a win, and then bring them back together. Obviously that's not guaranteed to work out, but then there is either a new champion, a new contender, or both. I don't think any of those things are bad for the flyweight division. Max Holloway had to win 2 fights before getting a 3rd fight with Volkanovski, but Moreno and Figueiredo get to fight 4 times in a row? I don't know. I would just like a little build up for the next one, just like I wanted for this one. The winner of the Kai Kara France vs Askar Askarov fight will have a serious case for a title shot. If Askarov wins (assuming he makes weight), he'll be an undefeated fighter who has been sitting in the number 2 spot in the rankings for quite awhile now. If Kai Kara France wins, he'll have defeated the previously unbeaten Askarov and former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt in consecutive fights. If it were my decision, I would have Figueiredo defend against the winner of that fight. Whoever comes out on top has more than earned their opportunity. Moreno then has options. He would likely fight someone coming off a loss and those options include Alex Perez, the loser of Askarov vs Kara France, and Cody Garbrandt. Before you start freaking out, I realize Garbrandt probably doesn't have the recent resume to really get that fight, but let's be honest with ourselves. He has the name value and would definitely be a fight that Moreno would want. The value of defeating a former champion, regardless of their recent history, would be enough to put Moreno back into a title fight in the eyes of most casual fans. Alex Perez hasn't fought since he lost to Figueiredo in 2020. He's still a top 5 option and again, would provide Moreno with the ammo to get right back into a title fight with a win. The loser of the Askarov vs Kara France fight will have just come off a number one contender fight and would prove that same opportunity for Moreno. I think Brandon Moreno would want the Cody Garbrandt fight, but I think the loser of Kara France vs Askarov is probably the fight to make based off of only the competitive spirit of the sport, with Alex Perez being the third option. I think a lot of people really want to see that fourth fight though, so if I had to predict, I think that I would say I expect to see the quadrology(?) next.
What do you guys think? Who did you score the fight for? What did you like about Figueiredo's performance? What about Moreno? What could they have done better? Did you notice what I did about Moreno or am I just reaching? Do you want the 4th fight immediately? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
Comments
Post a Comment