Brandon Moreno will be making his professional wrestling debut one week after defending his flyweight world championship at UFC 290 on July 8.
‘The Assassin Baby’ will be back in action during International Fight Week as he is set to put his 125-pound crown on the line against Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch more than five years in the making. Pantoja is one of the few men to hand Moreno a defeat during his run with the promotion, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Moreno in 2018. Half a decade later, the two men will meet once again with UFC gold on the line.
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Moreno shared some insight going into his summertime title fight while also revealing that a week removed from his next outing inside the Octagon, he will make his professional wrestling debut at TripleMania XXXI.
“Yes, after my fight next week, July 15, in my city of Tijuana, Mexico, I’ll be part of a team, so I’m excited,” Moreno said while talking about his appearance at the event. “It’ll be the first time doing that, so I’m kind of nervous but excited at the same time. I’m just trying to reach every goal and scenario in my life.”
Asked if he himself will be getting involved in the action, Moreno answered in the affirmative, but don’t expect him to be doing any tope suicida-style moves in his pro wrestling debut.
“Yes, I think so. Maybe no flying in the air, but I’m gonna do something,” Moreno confirmed.
For those unfamiliar, TripleMania is the biggest lucha libre event of the year in Mexico and is being held over the course of three separate nights in 2023. Moreno’s appearance will be part of the second night of festivities, with the third and final night going down in Mexico City in August.
Brandon Moreno will be wrestling on July 15.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/yQQwpNS9xV
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) June 26, 2023
Brandon Moreno Believes Kai Kara-France Should Have Seen His Hand Raised Against Amir Albazi
Earlier this month, the top of the flyweight division saw a bit of a shake-up when Kai Kara-France came up short on the judges’ scorecards, surrendering a controversial split decision to Amir Albazi. Fans and fellow fighters were left once again frustrated as the general consensus disagreed with the two judges that scored the bout in favor of Albazi. Asked who he saw winning the fight, Brandon Moreno sided with the majority, suggesting ‘Don’t Blink’ did enough to get his hand raised.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, man. I think Kai Kara-France won that fight, but it was a close fight. I understand some points of the people say, ‘Hey, what happened in the third round?’ I understand that, but I think, in general, it was a close fight, and that happens when you’re in the middle of a close fight.
“I know Amir [Albazi]. I’ve trained with him before, and he’s very good. He’s working, but that happens in MMA sometimes.”
Following the questionable victory, Amir Albazi called for a title fight against the winner of July 8th’s showdown between Moreno and Pantoja. However, ‘The Assassin Baby’ doesn’t believe ‘The Prince’ has done enough to warrant a title opportunity just yet.
“I don’t think [Albazi] deserves the opportunity yet, but in the end, it’s the UFC who makes the decisions for me for my next opponent,” Moreno said.
