The UFC’s freshly crowned interim flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno, reacted surprisingly well to arch-rival Deiveson Figueiredo’s Octagon invasion at UFC 277. Not long after Moreno earned the interim title with a victory over Kai Kara-France, Figuereido, with his own belt firmly in hand, walked into the Octagon to challenge Moreno to a fourth fight. Speaking on The MMA Hour, Moreno explained how he remained calm despite his rival’s presence.
“I was f****** ready to throw all my hate, all my fury there. But f***, man, I don’t know. Something came to my mind. What I said in the interview was real.
Brandon Moreno’s Reaction to Figueiredo Octagon Invasion at UFC 277
My parents went to my house to take care of my daughters, and my oldest daughter, she’s eight years old. She understands everything. If she doesn’t understand, she will in the future. So I had the option for the future, for the world, for the show, for the money, for whatever, to make some big drama there and do something stupid with Deiveson in the octagon and make everybody crazy, or I had the opportunity to take the long way and be respectful and say, ‘I forgive you for all the s*** you’re saying to me and please forgive me if I did something bad against you, and you feel bad.’ And I did it.
I know maybe for the fans it was not the best option, but as a man, as a family guy, I took the long way.” Moreno’s high road may well lead to another shot at the undisputed title. The irony of remaining polite to an opponent when the trajectory is to try and beat him up is not lost on the interim champ.
“I decide for me and my life. It’s crazy because I understand my job, I understand what kind of a sport I’m doing, but I decided to put the angry, the bad feelings out of my life.
Just watch this last fight this weekend against Kai Kara-France. I don’t want to say he’s my friend, but we were very professional together. We put a lot of respect in the press conference, in the interviews, and we had an amazing fight.
So by myself, I decided to put all the angry, all the hate out of me. If he wants to keep going with those feelings, I don’t care, because at the end, angry or not, I want to put on a show for the next fight. I want to get my title back.”
Figureido vs Moreno 4 likely won’t take place until Deiveson Figueiredo has recovered from the hand injury that lead to Moreno taking an interim title fight in the first place. When it does happen, who do you want to see capturing undisputed flyweight gold? Let us know in the comments.
