Are you getting a feeling of deja vu yet? Roughly three weeks ago, OddsUSA was previewing a Deiveson Figueiredo flyweight title fight. The UFC champion apparently stayed on Fight Island after the bout and is in yet another main event against Brandon Moreno after submitting Alex Perez in less than two minutes.
So you can guess why, even though Moreno also earned a first-round win at UFC 255 like the champion, Figueiredo is our favorite. He is also the favorite of the oddsmakers: Deiveson Figueiredo (-300) vs. Brandon Moreno (+250)
Forgive us if you’ve heard this before, but in 21 fights, Figueiredo is nearly perfect with just one loss by decision. 17 of his 20 wins are finishes (85 percent), fights that lasted ten minutes or less. 11 of those 17 finishes came in the first round.
Moreno has earned his title shot after a 6-2-1 stint in the UFC thus far, but it;s just not his time. The champion is absolutely on fire. Still, as FanDuel noted what is the general feeling around the internet–Moreno’s jiu-jitsu is better than that of Perez.
Combat Press noted in their own preview that the challenger has ten submission wins. The feeling seems to be that the grappling abilities of both men will cancel each other out, making this a striking contest in favor of Figueiredo. Just three of Moreno’s 18 wins have come by strikes.
The concern for both men is the weight cut. Both Matthew Petela and Andrew Sumian expressed this concern in the Combat Press preview.
Patella said, “The only thing that might go wrong for Figueiredo is the battle he has on the scale. It’s no secret that he lost his first shot at the title before the fight even started after he came in over the championship limit.
This quick turnaround could prove difficult for him when attempting to make another weight cut. Don’t expect Figueiredo to miss weight, but if he looks particularly unsteady on the scale at weigh-ins, then it might be just enough to give Moreno a real shot at stealing the title.”
OddsUSA must disagree with that last statement.
As Sumian wrote of the champion, “He will pepper Moreno with smooth and accurate strikes as the challenger continues to march forward round after round and take the punishment due to his toughness. When it is all said and done, the champion will get his hand raised in a unanimous decision and set himself up for a showdown with Cody Garbrandt sometime in 2021.”
The action goes down at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas this Saturday night.
Prediction: Deiveson Figueiredo def. Brandon Moreno by finish in ten minutes (two rounds) or less
