UFC flyweight Brandon Moreno recaptured the 125-pound title at UFC 283 this weekend, but his show-stopping win over Deiveson Figueiredo wasn’t the only clash of the night for “The Assassin Baby”. Moreno revealed at the post-fight press conference that he wound up in a backstage altercation with a very excitable Alejandre Pantoja.
“He came [at] me and he was very friendly with me, to be honest. When everything started, he came to me and said ‘hey man, today I feel so happy for you, congrats for the belt’ whatever and at that point everything was fine.
Brandon Moreno’s Backstage Altercation At UFC 283
Then he started to ask me like ‘when is our fight? In two months? Three months? Tell me right now!’ Like, I don’t know to be honest.
Then he started to look a little bit aggressive to be honest but my only point was let me enjoy it today. Give me today. Let me have this moment with my friends, with my training partners, with my wife, with my manager and then we can make [another fight] with the social media and the trash talk, if you want but give me this moment. That was my only point.”
Moreno continued. “Right now, he’s very excited and he’s a little bit desperate to get the fight for the title. Because with all this rivalry with Deiveson Figueiredo, we started in 2020 and we finished in 2023. It’s crazy, I understand the other challengers but I’m ready.”
Pantoja told his side of the story, too, boasting of his two career wins over Moreno in the past. “I want to say I’m not impressed. Moreno’s good but I [beat] him two times. I’m ready to be next. I want to call him [out]. I will fight with him any place he wants. If he wants to fight in Mexico, whatever the place.
I think that fight makes sense now. I beat him two times. Once when I finished him and the second one, I made it 30-26. A tough kid but all the time Moreno looks in my eyes, I see he’s afraid.” If Pantoja does get the shot at Brandon Moreno, it may well take place in Mexico City, which the champ had no problem with.
“I think as a Mexican, we deserve a pay-per-view again in Mexico City. I think right now we have an amazing position where Yair Rodriguez is fighting in February, Alexa Grasso is fighting in March, and nothing is official but Irene Aldana looks like a really clear possibility for Amanda [Nunes].
So I think this is the year for the Mexicans in mixed martial arts. I’m excited. For sure, I want to go there.”
