Figueiredo, Moreno set for quick return in UFC 256

Popular Tony Ferguson also meets Brazil's Charles Oliveira in what promises to be a wild fight


REUTERS December 10, 2020

LONDON:

A piece of UFC history will be made on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 256.

Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1) of Brazil will meet Tijuana's Brandon Moreno (18-5-1) in a title fight at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

If it seems as if both of their names were in the headlines recently, it's because they were.

Both fighters fought, and won, at UFC 255, with Moreno rolling over Brandon Royval in the opening round, while Figueiredo submitted Alex Perez in the opening round to successfully defend his belt.

With the UFC in need of a headline fight for its final pay-per-view offering of the year, this bout was put together. The 21-day turnaround will mark the fastest for title-fight competitors in modern UFC history.

Figueiredo seems to have all the makings of the next great long-term UFC champion. He is 9-1 in the UFC, has won five in a row and has finished four straight fights, including a submission of Joseph Benavidez to take the belt.

The upstart Moreno is unbeaten in his past five (4-0-1) and likes to go at the same fast and furious style "Figgy" displays in the cage.

"Brandon's a guy that asked to fight me since the Benavidez fight," Figueiredo said. "That's something that irritated and bothered me a little bit, so if he's asking to fight me then we'll get in the octagon and he can fight with me."

The co-feature lightweight bout is also one worth watching. Popular Tony Ferguson (25-4) of Ventura, Calif. meets Brazil's Charles Oliveira (29-8) in what promises to be a wild fight.

Ferguson will look to rebound for a loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249, which snapped a 12-fight winning streak. Oliveira has 16 post-fight bonuses overall and holds the UFC record with 14, but he has never gotten a bout of this stature until now.

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