Newly-crowned UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno is basking in all the glory that comes with earning a UFC world title, after choking out Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263.
Just a few days removed from the historic victory, Moreno is back in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico, and earned quite the welcome back from his team at Entram Gym.
Moreno is the first Mexican-born UFC champion and the first Mexican, in general, to earn the title since former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. He had a long road to the top, from being picked last during his time on The Ultimate Fighter; to reaching the elite class of fighters of UFC champions.
Moreno embraced the moment in his hometown, and his manager Jason House spoke with MMA Junkie to give an insight as to what Moreno is going through after earning the belt.
“I definitely feel the doors are open right now for him to walk through in a multitude of facets,” Moreno’s manager Jason House said in an interview with MMA Junkie. “I think, one, he’s going to be the torchbearer of MMA into Mexico. Now that they have a Mexico-born champion, the country is really going to rally behind Brandon. That’s going to be very good on one end.”
“On the second end, I think it’s going to open up a lot of possibilities for him. Being the first Mexican champion, he’s really going to propel himself into stardom.”
Moreno seems to be handling the new responsibilities that come with being a UFC champion very well, as he gets ready to look forward to his first UFC title defense expected to take place later this year. He has a plethora of options for his next fight; including the trilogy with Figueiredo and a fight with the next top contender in Askar Askarov.
Also of note, Brandon Royval and Alexandre Pantoja are slated to fight in a UFC Fight Night event on August 21st. Both Royval and Pantoja are in the Top 6 in the UFC flyweight rankings and could potentially meet Moreno down the line.
What are your thoughts on Brandon Moreno’s star to his UFC title reign? Who should he fight next?