Chael Sonnen tears into UFC commentary for poor coverage of Figueiredo vs Moreno

Chael Sonnen was not impressed with how the UFC commentary team dealt with the last weekend's Flyweight title fight between champion Deiveson Figueiredo and contender Brandon Moreno.

Man, I love this sport. Nothing and I mean NOTHING beats elite level MMA. What Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno did tonight was incredible. I can't wait for these two to run it back. Absolute legends. 👏 #UFC256 (📸 Getty) pic.twitter.com/F1E3Fu2Iqh

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) December 13, 2020

The former UFC Middleweight title contender analyzed the fight and the commentaries regarding the dispute on his YouTube channel. Sonnen believes the bout wasn't as close as Jon Akin, Joe Rogan, and Daniel Cormier were leading the public to believe.

"The announce team was making it believe and making it sound as though Figueiredo was fading. I didn't see that. My eyes were not showing me that. They were also leading you to believe that Moreno was winning the fight. That is not what happened. That is not what my eyes were telling me at any point in this," examined Sonnen. "What I saw more moments than not was Figueiredo moving forward. What I saw more moments than not was Figueiredo throwing punches and kicks at his opponent. What I saw more moments than not was the harder punches being landed by Figueiredo."

The bout against Moreno was Figueiredo's second UFC Flyweight belt defense. The title fight ended with a majority draw after the God Of War had a point deducted due to a wrongly delivered low kick that hit Moreno's groin area.

Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno is ruled a majority draw at #UFC256Figueiredo retains his flyweight title 🏆 @espnmma pic.twitter.com/sVfarXfsik

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 13, 2020

"When it came to who was more dynamic, Figueiredo was throwing punches. He was throwing kicks, including spinning kicks to the breadbasket," said Sonnen. "He was throwing elbows that were landing. This was a very fun fight. This was not a close or a hard fight to judge. Period. At the end of the story, it [the bout] only went to a draw because of a low blow, where a point was deducted [from Figueiredo]."

Although the commentators were leaning towards a win to be given to Moreno during the battle, Sonnen thinks that the judges made the right call.

"The judges 100% got this right. 100%. Three rounds to two, exactly as they call it. [They] did not put an overemphasis on the takedowns. By the way, the entire narrative going into this fight, and even during the fight, that Figueiredo was fading is false," said Sonnen assertively. "The fifth round was very clear. All three judges saw the same way as you guys saw, the same way as I saw, in the same way that Moreno felt. It was Figueiredo's first time in the fifth round in his whole career. He's never been in the fifth round. We're being told that he was fading. Ten minutes in, we're being told that he's fading. He won the fifth round. Those don't go together. The fight that you could see and the fight that you could listen to were two totally different fights." (H/T Sportskeeda for quotes)

Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno rematch

UFC president Dana White said that the UFC Flyweight title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno was the best UFC flyweight fight ever. Many other MMA analysts and fighters endorsed White's opinion.

Run it back? 🏆 #UFC256 pic.twitter.com/CRJP1V8Pv3

— UFC (@ufc) December 13, 2020

Following the bout's success, UFC will likely promote a rematch between the two fighters. But at this time, Figueiredo will be given more time to recover. The UFC Flyweight Champion had an interval of only 20 days between his first title defense and the second against Moreno last weekend.

Reports that Figueiredo was sick ahead of the fight emerged following his draw with Moreno. The UFC Flyweight titleholder vomited after his weigh-in and was allegedly hospitalized until hours before the title fight started.