Brandon Moreno respects the UFC’s flyweight champion, but he won’t once he’s standing across from him next month.
The Mexican UFC title challenger fights champ Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC 256 main event Dec. 12 in Las Vegas. Both Moreno (18-5-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) and Figueiredo (20-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) return to the octagon just 21 days after their most recent appearances, as they both competed at UFC 255 in Nov. 21.
Figueiredo defended his belt for the first time with a first-round submission over Alex Perez, and Moreno finished Brandon Royval with a first-round TKO.
Moreno knows the Brazilian champion is quickly establishing himself king of the flyweights and a force to be reckoned with, but he won’t let that stop him from taking the fight to Figueiredo.
“He’s a very hard rival – very hard,” Moreno said in Spanish on Hablemos MMA. “I’ve known all the time since I called him out that he’s a fighter from another planet in the sense that he’s very powerful and he’s a big fighter for the weight class. He has good conditioning. He’s explosive.
“Alex Perez did what he could, and he actually was doing OK until he got submitted. … I expect this to be a hard fight, but I know what I’m getting myself into. I know what’s ahead. I know how big it is to be a UFC champion. Deiveson is not the champion for no reason, but I promise you that I have zero fear and I promise I’m not going out there to respect him at all.”
Moreno said it’s just business and there’s no bad blood with Figueiredo. And though he’s focused on beating the champion and proving to fans that he’s the best flyweight in the organization, Moreno said he respects the champion outside the cage.
After all, not only has Figueiredo been calling to fight him, he also accepted the bout with Moreno with three weeks’ notice.
“He’s out there saying it’s personal and that I said something to him, but the truth is that I respect him a lot,” Moreno said. “I respect him and more because he’s the champion and he accepted a fight with only three weeks of training camp, and that speaks volumes to his courage, his want to fight and keep proving he’s the best. He did say at some point he wants to move up to bantamweight, but right now he’s fighting the No. 1 guy at flyweight and I respect that.”
Figueiredo has proven to be a nightmare to most flyweights in the UFC with many impressive knockouts and submissions. The Entram Gym product knows that, but Moreno also thinks he’s got the right skills to get the job done come Dec. 12.
“I’m more technical, I have more tools and I’m a lot quicker than him,” Moreno said. “The only thing you can say about Deiveson is that he’s a one-shot fighter, so I have to make that my advantage. I know that he can surprise. I know that he has a lot of tools, good elbows, good kicks. but I have a lot more speed than him and that’s going to be my advantage against him.”
Brandon Moreno unafraid of champ Deiveson Figueiredo: ‘I’m not going out there to respect him’
