Brandon Moreno lastly bought the job carried out in entrance of his residence crowd as the previous flyweight champion showcased superior placing throughout 5 rounds to beat Steve Erceg in Saturday’s UFC Mexico principal occasion.
Whereas it wasn’t a very lopsided efficiency, Moreno’s means to outwork and outstrike Erceg gave him the benefit on the scorecards as he constantly annoyed the Australian. With the stress on after going 0-2-1 in his first three appearances in Mexico Metropolis since becoming a member of the UFC roster, Moreno left little doubt he deserved to depart along with his hand raised this time.
The ultimate scorecards all learn 49-46 with Moreno getting the unanimous resolution win as he picks up his second straight victory following an prolonged break following back-to-back losses. With this newest win, Moreno is already serious about what comes subsequent and the opponent doesn’t appear to matter as a lot as incomes a spot on the UFC 320 card, which lands again in Mexico for the following Noche UFC card on Sept. 13.
“I’ve gone by way of a lot to be right here. I understand how arduous it’s for therefore lots of you to get a ticket to be right here. That is all for you,” Moreno shouted to the viewers.
“Hunter [Campbell], who actually is aware of what I deserve? I don’t know what I deserve. However I actually imagine I can transfer the needle and let’s go for the pay-per-view in Guadalajara. Let’s f*cking go. Let’s f*cking do it!”
The combat wasn’t essentially Moreno’s cleanest efficiency, however he nonetheless did every little thing essential to win whereas Erceg would possibly look again at this one with some regrets when he realizes a number of errors prevented him from getting the job carried out.
“I assumed I landed fairly nicely however clearly it wasn’t sufficient,” Erceg mentioned. “I went 5 rounds, I’ll preserve getting higher. I’ll get again.”
In what was nearly completely a placing contest for 25 minutes, Moreno was clearly gunning for the knockout, though he scored with a wide range of punches and completely different combos. Moreno tagged Erceg arduous within the opening spherical, however the one-time title challenger recovered nicely so he may proceed.
Whereas he was taking extra punches than he was meting out, Erceg was nonetheless hanging robust with some slick straight punches and well-timed uppercuts each time Moreno was diving ahead on him. Erceg was additionally searching for a straight kick proper up the center to maintain Moreno at distance.
Moreno stayed in pursuit and always appeared to attach with energy punches, however he wasn’t placing many combos collectively. Nonetheless, Moreno threw with a lot pace that Erceg was struggling to remain out of the way in which of his greatest punches.
Erceg appeared to have a bead on numerous Moreno’s offense, however he couldn’t arrange any counters to show the tables. Ultimately, Moreno closed the space and appeared for the takedown as he continued to do exactly sufficient to remain forward on the scorecards.
With time ticking away till the ultimate horn, Moreno stored flicking out a left jab after which following with the identical overhand proper that paid dividends for him all evening. Even when he didn’t land with it, Moreno’s energy clearly stored Erceg on a backfoot and unwilling to take too many possibilities.
Moreno additionally clipped Erceg with a late head kick that introduced the gang to its ft, however in the end the combat stalled out as soon as the fighters crashed all the way down to the ground collectively. Nonetheless, Moreno’s workrate was relentless and Erceg struggled to maintain up with him and that made the distinction within the resolution.
As a former champion with an enormous fan base in Mexico, it’s straightforward to imagine Moreno’s want goes to be granted and he’ll get a spot at UFC 320 in September. The one query now could be who Moreno faces, though there’s no scarcity of high flyweights obtainable for what ought to be a marquee spot on a pay-per-view card.
