Brandon Moreno is just weeks removed from a spectacular third-round knockout of Kai Kara-France at UFC 277 in July. The former flyweight world champion returned to the Octagon and regained his title, sort of. His win over Kara-France earned him the promotion’s interim flyweight crown as the reigning world champion Deiveson Figueiredo continues to recover from a hand injury.
During a recent interview with TMZ, Brandon Moreno discussed a potential date for the highly-anticipated fourth meeting between the two flyweight rivals.
“I want to fight in December. The problem is, I understand he’s the champion and he feels the necessity to pick the place now. We fought in Arizona, a lot of Mexican crews. We fought in Anaheim. A lot of Mexicans.
“We went to all those places where the people [were] with me, but I’m just trying to build my legacy. If I need to go to Rio and get the belt there, we do that. Let’s go.”
Moreno went on to discuss much of the trash-talk and drama that has surrounded his rivalry with Figueiredo over the last few years. ‘The Assassin Baby’ is ready to put all of that behind him and get their fourth fight done but is not sure that the champ could make weight at this point for a New Year’s showdown.
“You know what, I said this in my post-interview with Joe Rogan and all this freak show with Deiveson in the Octagon. I’m done with the drama. I’m done with the bad blood and the trash talk, but the reality is, Figgy is huge right now. I mean, he’s fat, so the real question is if he wants to make weight in December or even in January… That moment when we’re both in the Octagon face-to-face, the guy looks like 170 or 175 [pounds] at least and that’s for a flyweight. It’s a lot of crazy weight to cut.”
Brandon Moreno Feels He is The True UFC Flyweight Champion
In January ‘The Assassin Baby’ met Figueiredo for the third consecutive time. Walking into the contest as the UFC flyweight world champion, Moreno would walk out empty-handed, losing via unanimous decision. Moreno has gone on record disagreeing with the scorecards given that evening.
“My fight in January I was a little bit frustrated, you know. I’m still thinking the same, I feel like I won that fight. At the end of the day, I can’t do [anything] right now. I just have [to] control my presence. I just won the interim belt [and] I need to keep working because the challenge in the future will be awesome.”
When asked if he feels as though he is the true 125-pound world champion, Moreno says that he feels like he is the real champion, but realizes that a title unification bout with Figueiredo will be necessary to prove his position as the division’s best.
“I need to keep everything in balance because, thinking about the last fight against Figgy, I feel I won. And all the hard work I put in to get this belt back you know, I definitely feel like the reach champion, but at the same time, I don’t want to be arrogant. I know I need to fight against Figgy. I need to unify that belt and show to the world I’m the best.”
