The UFC 283 co-main event features a UFC Flyweight Championship unification bout between the current Champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Interim Champion, Brandon Moreno. The two men will meet for a record fourth time which marks the UFC’s first quadrilogy.
The main event of UFC 283 features a fight between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Glover Teixeira and rising contender Jamahal Hill for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Read our breakdown of the UFC 283 main event here.
UFC 283: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno Breakdown
Figueiredo rose to UFC Flyweight Champion in 2020 on the back of being one of the most prolific finishers in the division’s history. His first title shot came against Joseph Benavidez following former Champion Henry Cejudo vacating the title to focus on the Bantamweight Division.
Figueiredo won the fight via TKO in the second round but did not win the title due to missing weight. He won the UFC Flyweight Championship in a rematch with Benavidez via a first-round, rear-naked choke. Figueiredo then successfully defended the Championship against Alex Perez before facing Brandon Moreno for the first time at UFC 256.
Moreno entered the UFC from The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions. Moreno lost in the tournament’s first round against future UFC contender Alexandre Pantoja but made a successful UFC debut against Louis Smolka. Moreno reeled off two more wins before losing back-to-back fights, leading to his release from the UFC.
In his first fight after being released from the UFC, Moreno won the LFA Flyweight Championship, earning him a spot on the UFC roster. Moreno then went undefeated in five fights to earn his first title shot against Figueiredo at UFC 256.
Figueiredo and Moreno fought in an instant classic at UFC 256 that ended in a majority draw. The two men went back and forth for five rounds, with a one point deduction for Figueiredo in Round 3 being the difference maker.
The two men would rematch six months later, with Moreno triumphing via rear-naked choke to claim the UFC Flyweight Championship. This led to their trilogy bout in 2022 at UFC 270. Figueiredo would become a 2-time UFC Flyweight Champion winning a razor-close unanimous decision. Many thought that Moreno had done enough to reclaim his Championship.
Since their trilogy bout, Figueiredo has yet to return to the Octagon. Moreno returned to action quickly and beat Kai Kara-France to win the interim UFC Flyweight Championship in July at UFC 277. This set up the UFC’s first quadrilogy between Figueiredo and Moreno at UFC 283.
Find the full UFC 283 fight card, date, start times and live streams here.
The trilogy has been back and forth, with every fight, except for the second, close. Figueiredo has utilised his incredible power punches and leg kicks. At the same time, Moreno has shown the typical ‘Mexican’ toughness with his high-volume striking prowess and strong grappling.
Figueiredo won their third bout, likely due to the two knockdowns he landed. The fight was difficult to judge, with the usual questions around scoring damage in MMA. Moreno typically outlanded Figueiredo over a whole round, but Figueiredo had the big moments with his power shots.
Two main storylines throughout the rivalry have been Figueiredo’s weight issues and Moreno’s change in training camps since their most recent bout.
Figueiredo is a huge 125-pounder, and his weight cut issues came to the fore when he was ineligible to win the UFC Flyweight Championship in his first bout against Benavidez. The issue was also raised in his second bout with Moreno, where he seemed to have a difficult weight cut. However, he looked in great shape in their third bout with a healthy weight cut.
Moreno rose to the pinnacle of the sport as a UFC Champion while still training out of the Entram Gym in his native Tijuana, Mexico. However, following his loss in the trilogy bout, he moved permanently to the US and began training under James Krause at Glory MMA. This led to an improved Moreno scoring an impressive knockout of Kai Kara-France.
Moreno has now begun training under one of the best coaches in MMA, Sayif Saud, the head coach of Fortis MMA. This was forced due to Krause being banned from coaching any UFC fighters following his gambling scandal. It will remain to be seen whether Moreno has made even more improvements to his game.
Figueiredo and Moreno have proven to be the two best Flyweight’s in the world with no clear winner from their trilogy. While Figueiredo has fight-changing power, Moreno is only now entering the prime of his career at 29 years of age and has improved his game under some of the best MMA coaches.
Prediction: Moreno def. Figueiredo via TKO, Round 2
Read our breakdown of the UFC 283 main event Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill here.