Here’s an unexpected twist.
Brandon Moreno’s first defense of his men’s flyweight title will be against the man he took it from back in June.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that Moreno will once again face Brazil’s Deiveson Figueiredo, this time at UFC 269 on December 11th. For those who might be wondering why Moreno isn’t facing Alexandre Pantoja as was supposedly the plan, apparently Pantoja isn’t ready for December and Moreno is, so the UFC is going the trilogy route.
Moreno (19-5-2) fought to an unbelievably thrilling and wild draw in his first meeting with Figueiredo at UFC 256. The rematch was decidedly lopsided, as ‘The Assassin Baby’ outstruck and outgrappled Figueiredo on his way to a third-round rear-naked choke finish to become the first Mexican-born champion in the promotion’s history. Since his UFC return in 2019 he is unbeaten over six fights (4-0-2).
Figueiredo (20-2-1) won the vacant title in 2020 in his rematch with the (now retired) Joseph Benavidez. He missed weight for their first fight, but was on point the second time around and won by submission. His first championship defense was a guillotine choke stoppage of late notice replacement Alex Perez, who filled in for the injured Cody Garbrandt. That draw with Moreno was a result of a point deduction for a groin strike, one of multiple fouls committed.
UFC 269 already has a rescheduled women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena, and is expected to feature lightweight champion Charles Oliveira against Dustin Poirier in the main event.