Brandon Moreno clears the air on strike that injured Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283

Brandon Moreno recently addressed the crucial blow he landed on Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 earlier this month.

Moreno vs. Figueiredo bouts have never lacked controversy. Their first-ever matchup, back in 2020, comprised illegal eye pokes and low blows, and the judges' decision in their trilogy fight last year divided the MMA community.

Moreno ended his historic flyweight rivalry with Figueiredo at UFC 283, with the doctor calling a halt to their quadilogy bout after the third round. in his post-fight interview, Figueiredo claimed he was illegally poked in the eye, but the replay showed it was a clean punch.

That particular striker from Moreno opened a cut below Figueiredo's eye and by the end of the third round, the Brazilian couldn't see out of it, prompting the doctor's decision to stop the fight. During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Moreno discussed the fight-ending sequence, saying:

“I work that punch every single day with my coaches, with my boxing coach especially, Jorge Capetillo. I understand the point. After the hook, I throw the right hand, but my right hand was in this position here [straight up], and I punched the other eye. It was weird… Maybe they thought I poked his eye, but nah, man, the answer is that I never felt nothing illegal.”

Watch Brandon Moreno on The MMA Hour below:

Brandon Moreno re-gained the UFC flyweight championship by defeating Deiveson Figueiredo for the second time. Moments after the fight, ‘Deus Da Guerra’ announced that he was moving up to the bantamweight division, ending his rivalry with ‘The Assassin Baby’ once and for all.

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What’s next for Brandon Moreno?

Brandon Moreno will finally start a new chapter in his fighting career after being matched up against Deiveson Figueiredo four times since December 2020. During the same interview with Ariel Helwani, Moreno was asked when he plans to fight again, to which he answered:

“I need to rest my mind. I need to rest my body a little bit, but at the same time, I want to be active. I wanna be active. I want to fight maybe in June or, it’s a rumor right now, but go to Mexico City in September… That sounds cool for me. I prefer to fight in June, to be honest, but let’s see what happens.”

Moreno is expected to fight No.2-ranked Alexandre Pantoja next time out. Pantoja has defeated ‘The Assassin Baby’ twice already, once on The Ultimate Fighter and once in the UFC. ‘The Cannibal’ has won three consecutive fights against ranked opponents, making him the clear-cut next in line for the title.

The former foes even had a brief interaction soon after UFC 283.