Photo credit to DAZN
Brandon Moreno on Deiveson Figueiredo – “If you want to be an a**hole, be an a**hole every single time to me”
A title unification bout between UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and interim champ Brandon Moreno 4 is set for UFC 283 in Brazil this Saturday.
When Figueiredo and Moreno meet for the fourth time, it will finally break the deadlock between the two after they’re fought essentially to a tie over the first three fights.
In their first fight back in 2020, Figueiredo and Moreno fought to a majority draw. In the rematch in 2021, Moreno submitted Figueiredo to take the title. In the trilogy fight in 2022, Figueiredo won the belt back. However, he was injured and unable to fight for a second time this year, which led Moreno to win the interim title against Kai Kara-France.
In an interview with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri ahead of the contest, Moreno spoke about his beef with Figueiredo.
“Since the first fight, he’s been talking shit about me,” Moreno said. Then I beat him in the second fight and the guy hugged me and lifted me up. The next week he started talking shit about me again. This time, after the Kai Kara-France fight, he came to the Octagon trying to find some problems, but then he looked calm.
“Then the next week — even less than one week — he started talking shit again! Man, that’s too much. I think that’s enough reason to not like the guy.
“If you want to be an asshole, be an asshole every single time to me. But don’t come and hug me and say good things to me and then go to the media and start talking shit. I’m not with those guys.”
Figueiredo (21-2-1) has been in the UFC since 2017 and he has a 10-2-1 overall record in the Octagon, with notable wins over Moreno, Alex Perez, Joseph Benavidez, Tim Elliott, and Alexandre Pantoja. He has talked about moving up to 135lbs in the past, but it appears as though he will be staying at 125lbs for now.
Moreno (20-6-2) is in his second stint in the UFC, and he’s been extremely successful overall with a 9-3-2 record in the UFC. Although he did lose his belt to Figueiredo last year, he was able to claim the interim title in the summer, which now sets him up for this all-important trilogy match.
