Cain Velasquez laid the foundation, but Brandon Moreno seeks to build Mexican MMA up to new heights

Brandon Moreno was 16 when Cain Velasquez won the UFC heavyweight title from Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, but he remembers it as clear as day.

Seeing the Mexican tricolor sported in the UFC cage propelled Moreno (19-5-2 MMA, 8-2-2 UFC) down a path to achieve his own greatness. Over a decade later, Moreno hoisted his home country’s flag and title gold when he submitted Deiveson Figueiredo this past Saturday at UFC 263 to become the first Mexico-born champion in promotion history.

After a year of no crowds and no cheers, Moreno was flooded with applause and support throughout fight week – from the pre-fight press conference to his post-fight interview in the octagon with Joe Rogan. His star ceiling hasn’t been reached, in a market that has not birthed a UFC champion prior to his crowning.

From the beginning, it’s been Moreno’s goal to increase the popularity of mixed martial arts in Mexico, a country with a rich boxing history but with only a few mixed martial arts legends.

“That’s one of the things I want to do for my country,” Moreno told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “Obviously, I fight for myself. I fight for my own dreams. Then, I fought for my wife and my daughters, for my family, for my parents, who supported me when I started this sport, for my fans, for my country. It was special. I remember when Cain Velasquez came in 2014 in the UFC with UFC 180, that put mixed martial arts in a really high level in Mexico. Now, I think I have the position to put the sport again at another better level. I can’t say nothing, yet, but the UFC and I are working to bring the UFC to Mexico again. We’ll see what happens in the future.”

Moreno, 27, sits atop the flyweight throne. While he didn’t give a timetable for his return, he sees a number of possibilities for his first title defense, including Askar Askarov, Alex Perez, Cody Garbrandt, or Alexander Pantoja.

Check out MMA Junkie’s full interview with Moreno below: