Rivalries: Brandon Moreno

Another familiar face awaits Brandon Moreno.

“The Assassin Baby” will rematch Kai Kara France for the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title in the UFC 277 co-main event on Saturday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Morena outpointed the City Kickboxing standout to a unanimous decision in their first meeting at UFC 245 in December 2019. The winner expects to face reigning 125-pound champion Deiveson Figueiredo—Moreno has already completed a trilogy with the Brazilian—in a unification bout in the not-too-distant future.

As Moreno makes final preparations for his forthcoming battle with France, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Louis Smolka

Moreno submitted the heavily favored former Pacific Xtreme Combat champion with a guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 96 flyweight showcase on Oct. 1, 2016 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Smolka conceded defeat 2:23 into Round 1. Moreno struck for a takedown inside the first 30 seconds and settled in full guard, exhibiting no outward signs of the dreaded “Octagon jitters” in his late-notice organizational debut. Smolka escaped to his feet but left his neck exposed on an attempted single-leg takedown. Moreno bit down on the guillotine, rolled to a mounted position and then readjusted his grip to force a reluctant tapout from the Hawaiian. Smolka had never before been finished.

Sergio Pettis

The budding Roufusport star took a unanimous decision from Moreno in their UFC Fight Night 114 headliner on Aug. 5, 2017 in Mexico City. All three cageside judges scored it for Pettis: 49-46, 48-46 and 48-46. Moreno made it difficult. He executed a takedown inside the first minute of the first round, scrambled to the back and threaded his hooks before securing position with a body triangle and pursuing the rear-naked choke. Pettis spent more than four minutes with the Entram Gym standout attached to his back. Nevertheless, he survived. Pettis stayed upright over the next three rounds and carved up Moreno with a stiff jab, chopping right hands and a variety of kicks, one of which opened a cut near the right eye in the middle stanza. Pettis was in control at the start of Round 5 but yielded a takedown and again wandered into danger. However, he kept his composure and stayed active from the bottom, feeding Moreno a pair of upkicks at one point. Pettis eventually escaped to his feet and closed the round by showcasing his superiority in the standup before a crowd of 10,172 at Mexico City Arena. The loss snapped an 11-fight winning streak for Moreno.

Alexandre Pantoja

Crisp combination punching and stinging leg kicks carried the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion to a clear unanimous decision over Moreno as part of the UFC Fight Night 129 undercard on May 19, 2018 at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. Scores were 30-26, 30-26 and 29-27 for Pantoja, a short-notice substitution for Ray Borg. Never did it feel like a winnable fight for Moreno. Outgunned at virtually every turn, only his toughness kept him afloat. Pantoja tore into him with both hands, sneaky knee strikes and steady leg kicks. The Nova Uniao export bloodied Moreno’s nose with a wicked jab in the first round before drawing him to the mat, advancing to the back and mauling him with punches. Moreno’s situation did not improve. Pantoja continued to connect in combination and refused to stay down when taken down, offering no refuge for his game but overmatched adversary.

Askar Askarov

The former Absolute Championship Berkut titleholder fought to a split draw with Moreno in a back-and-forth UFC Fight Night 159 flyweight feature on Sept. 21, 2019 at Mexico City Arena. Scores were all over the place: 28-28, 29-28 for Askarov and 30-27 for Moreno. Neither man was satisfied with the verdict. Askarov stormed out to a quick lead, as he swooped in for a takedown in the first round, advanced to the back and set his position with a body triangle. Moreno eventually scrambled on top, only to be met with a volley of elbows from the bottom after failing to pass guard. Askarov executed multiple takedowns in the middle stanza but wandered into a late knee strike, dropped to his knees and surrendered his precarious grip on momentum. Moreno surprised the Dagestani newcomer with a takedown inside the first minute of the third round, applied his ground-and-pound and climbed to the back before nearly securing a rear-naked choke. However, his inability to close the deal sent the fight to the judges and ultimately cost him a victory.

Brandon Royval

Moreno was awarded a technical knockout over the onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder in the first round of their featured UFC 255 prelim on Nov. 21, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Royval appeared to suffer a dislocated shoulder during an intense ground exchange and could not physically defend himself, resulting in the stoppage 4:59 into Round 1. Both men had their moments in a brief but frenetic confrontation. Royval connected with a few standing knee strikes and a spinning back elbow but conceded a takedown that seemed to alter the direction of the fight. Moreno eventually jumped to his back and threatened with a rear-naked choke, his efforts giving way to the scramble that caused the injury. With Royval clutching his right arm in agony, a merciless Moreno let loose with the punches and hammerfists that finished the job and prompted referee Marc Goddard to act.

Deiveson Figueiredo

Jarring leg kicks and two knockdowns spurred the Brazilian to a unanimous decision over Moreno in the UFC 270 co-main event on Jan. 22, 2022 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, where he reclaimed the undisputed flyweight championship and drew even in their head-to-head series at 1-1-1. Figueiredo swept the scorecards with 48-47 marks from the cageside judges, becoming the UFC’s first two-time champion at 125 pounds. All five rounds were competitive. Moreno was sharpest in the second, where operated behind a probing jab, strung together combinations and got the challenger’s attention with his left hook. Figueiredo bounced back in Round 3 and followed the strategy his coaches laid out for him. He connected with the most memorable blow of the match when he decked Moreno with a right cross in the closing seconds, trailed him to the canvas and clamped down on a guillotine choke as the horn sounded. The fourth and fifth rounds were seesaw affairs. Moreno unleashed two- and three-punch volleys in the fourth and executed a takedown early in the fifth. However, Figueiredo answered when he sat down “The Ultimate Fighter 24” graduate with a well-timed left and shifted momentum yet again by tripling up on his right hand. They threw caution to the wind across the final 15 seconds, though Moreno appeared to get the best of a wild exchange. The two men had fought twice previously: They fought to a majority draw in the UFC 256 headliner on Dec. 12, 2020 before Moreno submitted Figueiredo with a third-round rear-naked choke in their UFC 263 rematch six months later.