Brandon Moreno finally finished his job in front of the home cloud as the former flyweight champion defeated Steve Elsegg in the main event of UFC Mexico on Saturday and presented an excellent strike in the fifth round.
It wasn’t a completely biased performance, but Moreno’s ability to overtake and refuse Elsegg gave him the advantage of a scorecard as he constantly irritated the Australians. Moreno definitely deserved to be on the UFC roster after being pressured after 0-2-1 in his first three appearances in Mexico City.
All final scorecards read 49-46, with Moreno earning his second consecutive win following an extended break following a back-to-back loss, earning a unanimous, decisive victory. With this latest victory, Moreno is already thinking about what’s coming next, and his opponent doesn’t seem to be important enough to win a spot on the UFC 320 card.
“I’ve experienced a lot of being here. I know how difficult it is for a lot of people here. This is for you,” Moreno cried to the audience.
“Hunter (Campbell), does anyone really know what I deserve? I don’t know what I deserve. But I really believe I’m trying to move the needle and go to a pay-per-view in Guadalajara.
The fight wasn’t necessarily Moreno’s cleanest performance, but he still did everything he needed to win, but Elseg might look back at this thing with regret when he realizes it’s keeping him from getting the job done.
“I thought I landed pretty well, but obviously that wasn’t enough,” Elseg said. “I went to five rounds, I’ll keep getting better. I’ll be back.”
It was an impressive 25-minute contest almost exclusively, with Moreno clearly aiming for a knockout, but scored with a variety of punches and different combinations. Moreno tagged Elseg vigorously in the opening round, but once title challenger recovered well, allowing him to continue.
While he took more punches than dipping, Elsegg was still hanging hard with some smooth, straight punches and timing uppercuts each time Moreno jumped forward at him. Elseg was also looking for a straight kick with the middle up in the middle to keep Moreno far.
Moreno stayed on the pursuit and always seemed to connect with the power punch, but he didn’t put together many combinations. Still, Moreno threw so fast that Elsegg struggled to get out of his biggest punch.
Elseg appeared to have beads on many Moreno’s attacks, but could not set a counter to turn the table. Eventually, Moreno closed the distance and continued to do just enough to get ahead with the scorecard, so he looked for a takedown.
Ticking past the final horn, Moreno continued to flick out the left jab before continuing on to the same overhand right, which paid him dividends all night. Even when he didn’t land on it, Moreno’s power clearly kept Elsegg in his waist and feet, reluctant to take away too many opportunities.
Moreno also clipped Elsegg with a late head kick to launch the crowd, but the battle eventually fell to a dead end after the battle collided with the floor together. Still, Moreno’s work rate was relentless, and Elseg struggled to catch up with him, which made a difference in the decision.
As a former champion of big fans in Mexico, it’s easy to believe that Moreno’s wishes will be given and will win a spot at UFC 320 in September. The only question now is who will Moreno face?