Brandon Moreno

Overview

Nine of Brandon Moreno's 21 UFC fights have ended without a win, and eight of those nine went the distance. That is a lot of close nights for a fighter who also beat Deiveson Figueiredo twice. Moreno is a Tijuana-born flyweight with a 12-7-2 UFC record, and he comes into his next fight on a one-fight win streak.

Judges have decided most of his work. Of his 12 UFC wins, six came by decision and six by finish: three knockouts, three submissions. Two of the finishes came in the first round.

Close nights are the pattern, not the exception.

UFC Career

Moreno debuted in 2016 with a first-round submission of Louis Smolka, then won a split decision over Ryan Benoit and submitted Dustin Ortiz in round two. Three fights, three wins. A five-round decision loss to Sergio Pettis in his first main event followed, then a unanimous decision loss to Alexandre Pantoja.

The rebuild started with a split-decision draw against Askar Askarov in 2019. Wins over Kai Kara-France and Jussier Formiga came next, then a first-round knockout of Brandon Royval at 4:59. That is one second from the bell.

Then came the Deiveson Figueiredo series, four fights against an opponent our model rates elite:

• a majority draw over five rounds in a main event (2020)
• a third-round submission win (2021)
• a unanimous decision loss over five rounds (2022)
• a third-round knockout win, finishing at 5:00 of the round (2023)

Two wins, one draw, one loss. In between, he also stopped Kara-France in round three in a rematch.

Since then it has been a different story. He lost a split decision to Pantoja in a five-round fight, then a split decision to Royval in a main event. He beat Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg, both by unanimous decision in five-round main events. Then came a second-round TKO loss to Tatsuro Taira and a unanimous decision loss to Lone'er Kavanagh. He closed with a split-decision win over Joseph Morales.

His only knockout loss in the UFC is the Taira fight. Everything else that went wrong went to the cards.

Fighting Style

Brandon Moreno is a busy striker who is hard to hit. He throws and lands at a strong rate and defends well, while taking about as much damage as the typical UFC fighter.

His takedown defense is a real strength, and he is tough to put on his back. He attempts takedowns at a normal rate and doesn't hunt for submissions, but three of his six UFC finishes came by submission, so the grappling threat is real. The other three came by knockout or TKO.

His finishes tend to arrive late. Three of his six finishes came in round three, with one more in round two and two in round one.

Notable Wins

• Deiveson Figueiredo — submission, round 3 (2:26), UFC 263 (2021)
• Deiveson Figueiredo — KO/TKO, round 3 (5:00), UFC 283 (2023)
• Brandon Royval — KO/TKO, round 1 (4:59), UFC 255 (2020)
• Amir Albazi — unanimous decision, round 5, Moreno vs Albazi (2024)

Quick Facts

• Division: Flyweight
• UFC record: 12-7-2
• Professional record (all promotions): 24-10-2
• UFC debut: 2016
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height: 5'7", reach: 70"
• Team: Team Moreno
• Born: Tijuana, Mexico