- Brandon Moreno explains why he didn’t engage with Deiveson Figueiredo in the Octagon at UFC 277.
- Moreno explains when and where to expect the four-fight with Figueiredo.
Brandon Moreno is the newly crowned UFC flyweight interim champion and has already had a run-in with the current champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
Following his electric win over Kai Kara-France at UFC 277, Moreno was brought face to face with his old foe, Figueiredo while still in the cage. With the addition of the interim belt, Moreno has now punched his ticket to face Figueiredo for the fourth time on some date in the near future. Over the past few months and years, there has been some bad blood between these two men, but Moreno explained on The MMA Hour, why that moment following his victory, was not the time to unleash his anger.
“My parents went to my house to take care of my daughters and my oldest daughter Madison she is eight years old, she understand right now everything and if she doesn’t understand, she will in the future. So I knew, I mean I had the option for the world, for the show, for the money, for whatever to make some of the big drama there and do something stupid with Deiveson in the Octagon and make everybody crazy,” Moreno said. “Or I have the opportunity to take the the long way and be respectful and just say like, Man, I forgive you for all that you’re saying to me and just please forgive me for if I did something bad against you. Maybe for the fans that was not the best option. But like as a man, as a family guy. I just took the long way. I feel amazing. Right now I’m enjoying life very, very well.”
Moreno and Figueiredo have fought three times, with the champ winning 2-1. The rivalry is going strong and in recent months Figueiredo has upped the hatred by calling Moreno names, including accusing him of making racial remakes. Moreno denies this claim and wants to move on without the hate. He knows that they will fight again, and friendship is most likely out of the question but he has no time for the drama in his life right now.
When will Figueiredo vs. Moreno 4 take place?
When a fighter wins the interim title they will either fight the champion or get promoted if that champion cannot fight. To Moreno either is an option. He stated that he would be ready to fight in December and it didn’t matter to him where.
“I just don’t want to wait another five to six months until my next fight. I want to fight before the end of the year. So if you want to go to see we can put in Brazil we can fight in Russia, wherever I don’t care. I just want a fight before the end of the year.”
Figueiredo is currently healing up from an injury that has kept him out until this point. His long layoff was the reason the interim belt was made. In his absence, he stated not wanting to return to flyweight and Moreno thinks that could be the case. He said he noticed that Figueiredo looked larger in the cage on Saturday night and says he could fight at a higher weight class.
