Brandon Moreno Discusses ‘Funny’ Drama With Brazilian Crowd, Backstage Altercation With Pantoja At UFC 283

"The Assassin Baby" talked about what went down after his UFC 283 victory.

Brandon Moreno
Brandon Moreno - Image via @theMacLife Youtube
  • Brandon Moreno shared his thoughts about the unpleasant reaction of the Brazilian crowd to his UFC 283 win
  • “The Assassin Baby” revealed what happened during the altercation with Alexandre Pantoja

Brandon Moreno won the UFC flyweight title in his fourth match against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 but he had to deal with a couple of dramatic encounters after. First, the reaction from the Brazilian crowd inside the Jeunesse Arena, and the altercation with Alexandre Pantoja moments later.

It was funny

Moreno threw a hard left hook that landed straight under the right eye of Figueiredo just before the third round ended. The hook caused a huge cut under Figueiredo’s eye and it prompted the physician to stop the fight.

According to Moreno, the Brazilian crowd may have gotten mad at him because they thought that he poked Figueiredo’s eye but clearly, he didn’t.

“Maybe that’s why the people are a little bit confused because I pushed his face with my hand. My hand was like in this position [open palm] not [poking position]. Maybe that’s why the people is a little bit mad,” Moreno said in his post-fight press conference.

“It was funny,” he added. “I wasn’t expecting that. I think at the end people will be very happy with my performance but I don’t know. I was just trying to enjoy the moment. It was crazy how all the bodyguards was around me and like pushing me, I throw the belt to the floor… It was funny!”

Run-in with “The Cannibal”

Moreno may have gotten away from the enraged Brazilian crowd inside the arena but he didn’t manage to escape Pantoja. As per “The Assassin Baby,” he was approached by Pantoja backstage and everything was cool until “The Cannibal” began egging him over a potential fight between them.

“He came [at] me and he was very friendly with me, to be honest,” Moreno revealed. “When everything started, he came to me and said ‘hey man, today I feel so happy for you, congrats for the belt’ whatever and at that point everything was fine.

“Then he started to ask me like ‘when is our fight? In two months? Three months? Tell me right now!’ Like, I don’t know to be honest. Then he started to look a little bit aggressive to be honest but my only point was let me enjoy it today. Give me today. Let me have this moment with my friends, with my training partners, with my wife, with my manager and then we can make [another fight] with the social media and the trash talk, if you want but give me this moment. That was my only point,” he continued.

Moreno’s UFC 283 victory ultimately puts an end to his long flyweight rivalry with Figueiredo which dates back to 2020. The first fight was a draw and Moreno dethroned the Brazilian in the rematch in 2021. Figueiredo reclaimed his title by beating Moreno in their trilogy bout last year but “The Assasin Baby” quickly bounced back to the win column by stopping Kai Kara France this past June.

Figueiredo only fought Moreno in all of his last four trips to the Octagon, losing twice in the process.  He was planning to become a double champ prior to UFC 283 but would now need to go back to the drawing board after losing to Moreno.

Pantoja, meanwhile, is currently the No. 2 flyweight contender in the world. He presents a strong case to become Moreno’s first title challenger after having gone unbeaten in his last three fights, including his first-round submission win over Alex Perez at UFC 277.

Published on January 22, 2023 at 12:08 pm
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