Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 4 In The Works For July
The UFC is targeting a fourth fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno for the flyweight title.
According to Ariel Helwani, the promotion would hope for a showdown in July. The fight could serve as a possible co-main event at UFC 276 during international fight week on July 2. The T-Mobile arena will play host to the event, and it is rumored that Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards will be headlining the card. If the fight does go down at UFC 276, it would serve as the biggest fight in UFC flyweight history.
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno are set to make even more history as there have never been two fighters to fight each other four times in the UFC. If Brandon Moreno can secure a victory, there is a very high chance we could possibly see a fifth fight between the two. This news may serve as a delight to fans, but the rest of the flyweight division may be upset that the division will be held up again.
This Saturday at UFC Columbus a flyweight fight between Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France is scheduled to take place, which many believed would produce the next challenger for Figueiredo
The History Between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno
How did we get to a fourth fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno?
To fight someone four times there must be some drama, right? It all began on UFC 256 in December of 2020, when Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueredo met for the first time. Both fighters came into the fight on just 21 days’ notice, having fought at UFC 255. Figueiredo was coming off a first-round submission victory and Moreno scored a first-round knockout of Alex Perez. The epic five rounder between Figueiredo and Moreno was a fight of the year candidate, ultimately losing the honor to the greatest women’s MMA fight of all time put on by Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The fight ended in a draw which allowed Figueiredo to retain his championship.
In July of 2021, the two flyweights linked up for a second time where Brandon Moreno put on an inspirational performance and submitted Figueredo in round three to become the first Mexican-born champion in UFC history. In what seemed like a lackluster performance from Figueredo, the Brazilian demanded a rematch, saying he dealt with a tough camp and was facing injuries leading up to the fight. The UFC obliged and made the trilogy fight for UFC 270 in January of 2022.
The third fight between Figueredo and Moreno was much more personal than the first two. Both combatants were taking shots at each other leading up to the trilogy, most notably with Figueiredo claiming at one point that he wanted to rip Moreno’s head off and give it to his coach Henry Cejudo. Figueiredo stated that he felt that Moreno had betrayed coach Cejudo because Moreno had left the Fight Ready camp, a team that he previously trained with.
Ultimately no heads were knocked off and Deiveson Figueredo scored a unanimous decision victory (48-47) to capture championship gold for the second time in his career. Deiveson Figueredo looked much improved in the third outing and looked like the Figueiredo we were accustomed to watching. It was a close fight and there were people who believed Moreno had done enough to win. Post-fight there were already talks about a fourth meeting between the two and Dana White seemed receptive to the idea. Figueredo at the time said he wanted $1,000,000 to face Moreno again.
Who do you think wins the fourth time? Should the UFC have booked another challenger for Figueiredo?
