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There might be one more UFC show to go this year, but as far as pay-per-views are concerned, UFC 256 was a great way to end 2020.
The show had some absolutely fantastic fights from top to bottom, and the whole thing was topped off by an insane UFC Flyweight title fight in the main event.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno.
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#1 Best: Figueiredo and Moreno put on the best Flyweight fight in UFC history
It’s easy to get caught up in hyperbole after a big UFC event like last night’s, but it wouldn't be an overreaction to call Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno the best Flyweight fight in UFC history.
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Simply put, this fight was insane. Both men only agreed to take the fight after they’d competed at UFC 255 just three weeks ago, so to see them go to war for five rounds without slowing down at all was jaw-dropping.
Personally, I felt like Figueiredo deserved the nod. I know he keeps his UFC Flyweight title with the majority draw, but despite Moreno’s best efforts, I felt like the Brazilian won the first, second, and fifth rounds.
I also had Figueiredo winning the third round – and I felt like Jason Herzog’s decision to deduct him a point for a single, admittedly bad foul was harsh.
However, to see Moreno standing up to the brute power of Figueiredo and taking the fight to him as nobody else had done in UFC was massively impressive.
As there’s no clear-cut top contender at Flyweight right now UFC should definitely run this back in 2021. It was an instant classic.
#1 Worst: Rogan and Cormier create an unfair narrative in the main event
On a UFC show as good as this, it’s always tricky to pinpoint “worst” moments. For me though, the low point came, surprisingly enough, in the brilliant main event.
I will preface this by saying that I’ve been watching UFC for 18 years now, and I think Joe Rogan is a genuinely fantastic commentator. His enthusiasm for the sport of MMA never wanes, and he’s brilliant at breaking down some of the exchanges in the Octagon, particularly on the ground.
However, he’s always had a couple of major weaknesses. One is that he tends to find a narrative before a fight and attempts to push it regardless of what’s happening inside the cage. And the second is that if a big underdog is doing better than expected – as Brandon Moreno did last night – he’ll completely over-sell their success.
This issue raised its head at UFC 255 last month, when Rogan talked up Jennifer Maia heavily throughout her losing effort against UFC Flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko, but it was probably worse last night.
If you’d been watching the main event blindly, you’d have probably believed Moreno was winning handily, simply because Rogan and Daniel Cormier seemed to be talking up his chances so much. It was completely unfair to Deiveson Figueiredo, considering, for the most part, he was ahead in the fight.
Rogan still has plenty to offer in UFC – and Cormier is a great commentator in his own right – but maybe UFC President Dana White should have a word with them about creating a false narrative as they did last night.
#2 Best: Kevin Holland’s crazy knockout of Jacare
I’ll be honest and say that I never expected Kevin Holland to beat Jacare Souza in a million years. Sure, Jacare is at the tail-end of his UFC career now, but he’s still one of the best athletes and the greatest grapplers in the world at 185lbs.
And Holland, up to this point at least, had done nothing to suggest he was ready for elite-level competition.
That all changed last night. ‘The Trailblazer’ looked incredibly confident, showed no fear of Jacare’s vaunted ground game, and incredibly, picked up one of the best KO’s in UFC history.
Somehow, after fending a ground attack from the Brazilian off, Holland was able to land a remarkably heavy right hand from his back. Jacare was badly stunned, and before he could even attempt to recover, Holland followed with a series of punches that knocked him silly.
It was only the second time a fighter had knocked their opponent out from the bottom in UFC, and it was also Holland’s fifth win of 2020, which is ridiculous.
It’s probably time for observers – myself included – to stop doubting Holland now. He’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, he clearly hits hard, and he’s ultra-confident. He’s clearly ready for the elite level of UFC after all, and this was his biggest win to date.
#2 Worst: JDS’ complaints take away from Gane’s win
The main card opener saw hot prospect Ciryl Gane pick up his biggest UFC win yet, as he knocked out former UFC Heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos in the second round. It was a pretty great performance from ‘Bon Gamin’, who broke JDS down with his heavy low kicks before stopping him with a nasty elbow.
However, I felt like the complaints from Dos Santos around the nature of the finish unfairly took away from Gane’s accomplishment. Essentially, the Frenchman stunned the former UFC champ with a hard jab and then dropped him with an elbow to the temple.
JDS, though, felt that the elbow had connected with the back of the head – making it an illegal blow. Referee Jerin Valel disagreed, feeling that the shot was clearly legal, and so thankfully, Gane was handed his fourth UFC win.
But even if the blow had connected to the back of the head, realistically, Dos Santos would only have had himself to blame. He was turning away from Gane at the time, clearly trying to avoid more punishment.
This was a huge win for Gane, but as a longtime veteran and former UFC champion, Dos Santos should perhaps have accepted his loss with a little more grace.
#3 Best: Oliveira shows he’s got UFC title credentials in his win over Ferguson
UFC 256’s co-main event between Tony Ferguson and Charles Oliveira wasn’t quite as exciting as fans might’ve hoped going in, but it was a tremendous win for Oliveira nonetheless. ‘Do Bronx’ dominated Ferguson, almost snapping his arm in the first round and outstriking him throughout the fight.
It was the Brazilian’s best UFC win to date, and incredibly, it was his eighth UFC win in a row in what is usually considered the promotion’s deepest weight class.
Oliveira has gone from being a fighter who’s fantastic on offense but weak in terms of his ability to weather punishment into a genuine beast. He can now strike with the best fighters in the division, wrestle just as well as anyone, and we all know how good his submission skills are.
Sure, it’s worth suggesting that Justin Gaethje may have taken Ferguson’s soul somewhat with the beating he put on him in April, but that isn’t really the point. ‘El Cucuy’ is still one of UFC’s most dangerous Lightweights and Oliveira absolutely handled him.
Simply put, 2021 should be time for ‘Do Bronx’ to get a UFC Lightweight title shot. He’s more than earned it.
