Brandon Moreno holds no hard feelings towards Brazilian fans who chucked beer and trash at the Mexican fighter following his TKO victory over Deiveson Figueiredo last weekend at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It was the fourth time Moreno and Figueiredo met inside of the Octagon so the bad blood and title fight tension was at an all-time high. However, the fact that this was the first trip back to Brazil for UFC since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic added fuel to an already roaring fire. Figueiredo was not anticipating to lose in front of his home crowd and the Brazilian fans expected to cheer their fighter out of the cage in victory.
Unfortunately for all Brazilian parties involved, Moreno was on his best game from the opening bell. He controlled the pace, distance, and almost every exchange in the fight, leaving Figueiredo bloodied and bruised at the end of three rounds. In fact, Figueiredo’s eye was completely shut off which promoted a doctor’s stoppage before the start of the fourth. Moreno was already winning the flyweight grudge match, but the Brazilian fans were not happy with the outcome.
As Moreno was leaving the cage with the undisputed UFC flyweight title in tow the Brazilian fans proceeded to throw beer and trash at him. Moreno was able to get out of the way of most it, but it was a poor display of sportsmanship from the crowd in Rio.
Surprisingly, Moreno doesn’t seem too bothered by nearly eating a beer can to the back of the head.
“For me, as a Mexican, it’s kind of normal,” Moreno told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I’m not saying it’s correct. I think it’s a horrible thing, but I can see it in soccer, I can see it in lucha libre. I’m not saying it’s correct, but I live a little bit more with it like that. That’s why for me it was funny. I know that can be dangerous, but I love all the staff of the UFC, because they took care of me every single moment. All the bodyguards were there taking care of me, so I love those guys.”
Some thought Moreno may have poked Figueiredo in the eye during a late exchange in Round 3 that promoted the stoppage, but video replay proved that wasn’t the case. Still, some fans in attendance may have believed it was an eye poke that ended Figueiredo’s night early and that’s why they reacted the way they did.
“Maybe because they thought I poked Figueiredo’s eye,” Moreno said. “Starting from that, I don’t know. I was just happy, laughing, I danced a little bit after the fight, maybe that’s why they started to get mad. I don’t know. I don’t care. I just won. I did everything right. I was very respectful every moment, I tried to do my best to make all the Brazilian fans comfortable with me, so I’m perfect right now. I’m comfortable with that.”
What say you, Maniacs? Are you looking at this as par for the course or were the Brazilian fans out of line?
Let’s hear it!