The fourth time was the charm for Brandon Moreno, as the former flyweight champion finally collected his first UFC victory in Mexico City, garnering 49-46 scores across the board in his main event clash against Steve Erceg. Moreno came out of the gates firing, posting his most dominant round in the first, connecting with big shots that backed up Erceg while looking fast and dialled in. The Australian has his best round in response, settling into his range and connecting more frequently, but from then on, “The Assassin Baby” was just a little ahead the rest of the way.
While Erceg did well, his technical, precision approach didn’t yield the same level of impact as Moreno’s offensive output. And try as he might, the Perth native wasn’t able to close the gap on the former champ. After going 0-2-1 in his first three appearances inside the octagon in the Mexican capital, this was an emotional win for Moreno, who has now posted back-to-back definitive main event victories after out-working Amir Albazi last November in Edmonton.
He’s in a bit of a tricky position when it comes to the title chase because reigning champ Alexandre Pantoja has beaten him twice before — three times if you include their bout from their time on The Ultimate Fighter — but with the promotion headed to Guadalajara in September for a Noche UFC pay-per-view, it will be interesting to see how things shake out at the top of the 125-pound weight class in the next couple months. While this is a thir.