Deiveson Figueiredo lands an uppercut on Brandon Moreno at UFC 256.
Fight of the Year contender, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno ends in a draw at UFC 256
The UFC hosts its final pay-per-view event of the year tonight, as UFC 256 goes down live at the UFC Apex Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There have been so many bouts cancelled for this event, it’s insane the UFC was able to put on this great of a card. For starters, Petr Yan was supposed to be defending his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Aljamain Sterling at this event, and obviously, that didn’t happen tonight.
Luckily, only three fights were cancelled the week of, and one of them was rebooked for next week.
Headlining the event was a bout showcasing the flyweights, once again, as Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno battled it out in the main event of the evening. Both of these talents fought at UFC 255, 21 days ago, and both secured first-round finishes over top flyweights.
Neither of them could’ve hoped for a better performance, they really looked incredible last month. This marks the quickest turnaround for a champion, or a challenger in UFC history!
Continue reading to see how this epic main event went.
Round 1
The champion opens up with a spinning back kick and immediately takes the center. He hits Moreno with a hard jab and initiates a clinch, before Moreno turns him into the fence. They hit the mat and scramble for a time before getting back to their feet.
Figueiredo is throwing hard shots trying to finish the fight, while Moreno lands some nice combos of his own. Figueiredo continues to land his jab, among other strikes. Moreno goes for head kick, but slips and ends up on bottom, until he foot sweeps Figueiredo and gets back to his feet.
Figueiredo landed some hard overhands, hooks, and shovel hooks to the body throughout the round, while controlling the center. Moreno finishes a lot of his combos with head kicks, and lands one of them, before Figueiredo returns one of his own.
This is an absolutely wild fight right from the start!
Round 2
Figueiredo takes the center immediately once again, and lands a hard spinning back kick 20 seconds into the round. The champion then adds a few leg kicks into it, landing three in a short period of time.
Figueiredo lands another hard overhand right and just tees off with a barrage of punches, but the challenger is as game as they come, he takes them and keeps returning his own. Moreno secures a body lock takedown, before Figueiredo scrambles up and starts throwing once again.
Moreno comes in to land a combo and gets tagged hard and stopped right in his tracks. Moreno immediately goes for a takedown and gets it, before Figueiredo gets up and the round ends with them trading shots.
Round 3
Figueiredo lands a hard overhand right to start the round, before Moreno returns with a combo of his own followed by a head kick. Figueiredo is going to the body with his kicks and shovel hooks, but Moreno just keeps taking it and returning his own strikes.
Moreno ties up with the champion and has double underhooks, before Figueiredo works his way out of it. The toughness and grit of Moreno is really something to behold, as is the toughness and grit of Figueriedo, they’ve both taken so much punishment from one another.
Figueiredo lands a hard front kick right to the groin of Moreno and the referee takes a point. This may have helped Figueiredo, because he wasn’t necessarily slowing down, but he was becoming more labored.
Moreno lands a nice overhand right whilst being stalked by Figueiredo toward the end of the round, perhaps Moreno’s best strike of the round.
Round 4
Figueiredo opens up the round with a flying knee attempt, and continues stalking Moreno right away. The champion lands another hard left hook, just before Moreno opens up with a couple beautiful combos. Moreno momentarily stumbles Figueiredo with a head kick, but the champion kept his composure and recovered quickly.
Moreno secures another takedown, this time against the fence, keeping Figueiredo from immediately springing up. Figueiredo does end up getting back to his feet and throws some heavy punches, including a left uppercut, right hook combo.
Moreno lands a barrage of hooks and stumbles Figueiredo again, but Figueiredo again quickly recovers. Figueiredo is certainly more labored at this point of the fight, and the momentum is starting to shift. Figueiredo lands another barrage of strikes and is taken down again with a body lock trip.
The challenger has half guard as soon as they hit the mat, and it’s taking Figueiredo longer to get up each time he’s taken down. Figueiredo gets up, but not without consequences, as he eats a ton of shots on his way up.
Round 5
Both parties buy their time coming into round five. Figueiredo opens up with two body kicks 40 seconds in, and Moreno returns with some punches. Figueiredo is using his footwork, trying to find the right angle, but Moreno is so defensively savvy, and he’s so great at countering, it’s hard for him to find an opportunity.
This round, like many of them aside from the first, was very close. This was an absolute war throughout it, an absolute pleasure to watch. And to think the UFC was seriously considering getting rid of the flyweight division, crazy.
Official Result: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno results in a draw (47-46, 47-47, 47-47)
