Moreno affirms”I never refused a rematch”

Brandon Moreno signed the first fight he was offered, will have his third showdown with Deiveson Figueiredo next Dec. 11 at UFC 269 with the 125-pound crown on the line.

“I know him very well after two fights. There was talk of many names and the truth is that the first formal offer from June 12 until now was this one. Figueiredo was saying that I didn’t want to give him the fight, but it wasn’t like that,” explained the flyweight champion to ESPN Deportes.

Last August 21, another Brazilian he has history with, Alexandre Pantoja, defeated Brandon Royval and challenged him at UFC Apex. Moreno was present at the Spanish-language broadcast and immediately accepted, but that fight never materialized.

“If it wasn’t for Alexandre’s injury that would have been the fight. Askar Askarov was not available either, there was nothing left but Figueiredo, he asked for the trilogy and I’m ready,” added the Tijuana native.

Pantoja came out with a six-month medical suspension due to a left knee injury, which he has not overcome and has not been cleared to fight, so Moreno is ready to face the so-called ‘God of War’ for the third time in just 12 months. Both in December 2020, when they drew, and in June 2021, when the Mexican’s victory was presented, Deiveson argued physical problems after the weight cut to justify his performance.

“What I imagine is that he’s going to make weight better, he’s going to put a lot of effort into the diet, you get there better physically and he’s going to make the weight easier. That at the end of the day is going to affect his hitting a little bit because he’s going to come in less heavy, it’s going to benefit me. He might feel a little bit lighter, faster, but at the end of the day the big problem with him was the punching, because he came in with punches in a division where it’s not that common,” Brandon said.

He hopes he can make the weight target, because he doesn’t want to hear any more justifications after the fight in case he beats him again.

“He hasn’t stopped with the excuses. I’m respectful, I don’t like to talk bad about people and then greeting him is like double face, as he was he hugged me and for me it was like a mutual respect. Then the other week he arrives and starts to throw me out. I don’t care what he says, it has never affected me, the guy is not very smart and it sounds very scripted everything he always says. I just want to win, win convincingly and take this guy out of the conversation for a long time,” added the first Mexican-born champion in UFC history.

Moreno insists he is not hiding from Figueiredo, whom he submitted at UFC 263.

“Another thing he commented is that he was denying me, people have to understand that here it’s not like in boxing. The UFC puts you your opponent, he didn’t give me the opportunity for a rematch, the UFC gave it to me, he accepted and I never refused anything. The first name they offered me, I accepted it. I don’t think about defeat, that’s cancelled in my mind, I’m going to beat him and I don’t see any other scenario”, he explained.

The Mexican was practically local in Glendale for his championship fight and hopes to have the support of the public in Las Vegas again, since he has been living there for 9 months and has been able to see the large number of compatriots attending boxing events or the final of the Gold Cup, where Mexico faced the United States.

Although he hopes the conditions are right for 2022, he still doesn’t know if his next fight would be in Mexico again, where he hasn’t fought since his return to the UFC in September 2019.

“I can’t promise it will be the next one, my plan and UFC’s plan is to return to Mexico, I would love to win there and grow the sport. Like when Cain Velasquez won and I think I can make a before and after, I want to fill this time the Arena and do something important there,” he finished.

UFC 269 will feature at least one other championship fight with Amanda Nunes’ defense against Julianna Pena and Dustin Poirier, last week they were very close to closing their lightweight title bout against Charles Oliveira.