Deiveson Figueiredo is keeping his title…
In what’s being called one of the best MMA fights of the year, the 32-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and Brandon Moreno battled it out to a majority draw (48-46, 47-47, 47-47) in a UFC flyweight title fight on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 256 in Las Vegas.
Figueiredo, the defending flyweight champion, retained the title because of the draw. It was only the fourth draw in UFC championship history.
“We need a rematch,” Moreno, the first Mexican-born fighter to compete for a UFC title, said in his post-fight interview. “We need that rematch. I think so. For myself, for Figueiredo, for the fans, for everybody. For the sport, of course.”
UFC president Dana White called Figueiredo-Moreno the best fight in UFC flyweight history and said he “absolutely, positively” wants a rematch to happen.
“That’s another fun fight for all of us to look forward to in 2021,” he said.
The bout was filled with wild, hard exchanges. Both men tagged each other with hard combinations and head kicks. When it seemed like one had momentum, the other would come roaring back with hard blows.
“If they want to put him in front of me next fight, I’m open to that,” Figueiredo said.
Figueiredo said in his post-fight interview that he had a stomach infection Friday night and was in the hospital until 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
In February, Figueiredo missed weight ahead of a bout with Joseph Benavidez for the vacant flyweight title. He ended up beating Benavidez by second-round TKO, leaving the belt vacant because he was ineligible to become champion after missing weight.
At that point, the future of the division was uncertain. The UFC spent late 2017 and 2018 paring down the division with whispers that it would be abolished. Fast-forward to present day and the flyweight division has now headlined back-to-back UFC pay-per-view cards to finish the year.
White credited UFC co-matchmaker Mick Maynard for rebuilding the flyweight division, which he called “one of the most exciting divisions in the UFC now.”
“And tonight, we put on potential fight of the year and potential greatest fight in division history,” White said.
This was the quickest turnaround for either a champion or challenger in UFC history. Figueiredo and Moreno both competed at UFC 255 on November 21 — just three weeks ago. At UFC 255, Figueiredo finished Alex Perez via guillotine choke — the fastest submission in UFC flyweight history (1 minute, 57 seconds) — and Moreno beat Brandon Royval via first-round TKO.
When the UFC lost its scheduled UFC 256 main event — a bantamweight title fight between champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling — the promotion tabbed Figueiredo and Moreno to fill in. And they did so with an epic encounter.
Judges Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo both scored the bout a draw. D’Amato had Figueiredo winning the first and fifth rounds and the third 9-9 because of the point deduction. Kamijo had it 9-9 in the third, with Figueiredo winning the first and second rounds. Judge Derek Cleary had it 9-9 in the third, with Figueiredo winning the first, second and fifth rounds.
ESPN had Figueiredo ranked No. 7 in the world on its MMA pound-for-pound list going in. Figueiredo and Moreno are ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, at flyweight by ESPN, behind former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, one of the best fighters of all time.
Figueiredo (20-1-1) is unbeaten in six straight and 10 of 11 in the UFC overall. Nicknamed “God of War,” Figueiredo stopped Benavidez via first-round TKO in July to win the vacant flyweight title. This was his second title defense. Figueiredo is tied with Johnson with the most finishes in UFC flyweight history (seven).
“My fans are used to seeing a knockout in the first round, but I fought all five rounds and I thought I put on a great performance,” Figueiredo said.
Moreno (18-5-2) is unbeaten in six straight with a 7-2-2 UFC record overall. “The Assassin Baby” was cut by the UFC in 2018 after dropping two in a row. At the time, the promotion was considering dropping the division. Moreno, 26, won the Legacy Fighting Alliance title outside the promotion in 2019 and was then brought back to the UFC just three months later. He is 3-0-2 since being released.