From being the last seed on season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter to being cut from the UFC, Brandon Moreno's journey to flyweight champion has defined the ultimate comeback story.
Moreno goes against all the archetypes of the stereotypical fighter, he's a goofy character who collects Lego and funko pop figures.
That's why the MMA world couldn't have been happier for Moreno when he won the UFC flyweight title in his rematch against Deiveson Figueiredo last June.
'The Assassin Baby' is set to defend his title for the first time in a trilogy fight against Figueiredo at UFC 270 next weekend in the promotion's first pay-per-view event of the year.
So let's look at the turbulent journey that has led Moreno to become UFC flyweight champion...
Early career
Moreno started his MMA career before he was even a teenager, staying busy by working part-time for his family's piñatas and sharpening his fighting skills.
The Mexican admitted he took up the sport to lose weight and later ditched plans of going to law school to pursue his fighting career.
Moreno's parents supported him in his plans but made him work full-time for their business to pay for living and training costs.
"I could make my own schedule, because I wanted to go and train," Moreno told ESPN of his early career.
"That's why my parents helped me so much. I started to make money by myself. I started to grow up, and I started to know hard work."
The risk eventually paid off for Moreno as he turned professional in 2011 and fought nine times in just over a year, going 6-3 and being picked up by Arizona promotion World Fighting Federation.
Moreno won the flyweight title in just his second fight for the promotion and defended it three times before appearing on The Ultimate Fighter.
Last seed on TUF
Despite entering the competition with a respectable 11-3 record and still being the WFF champion, Moreno was the last seed on season 26 of 'TUF'.
By luck of the draw, Moreno was assigned to Joseph Benavidez's team and scheduled to face the No.1 seed Alexandre Pantoja in the opening round of the competition.
It was bitter pill to swallow for opposing coach and future two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo, who was eager to work with Moreno due to his Mexican heritage.
Moreno was eliminated in the round of 16 after being submitted by Pantoja, but he remained on set of TUF and trained with his competitors for the rest of the season.
In a remarkable turn of events, Moreno made his UFC debut whilst the season of TUF was still filming after Sergio Pettis withdrew from his fight against Louis Smolka.
After crashing out of the competition in the opening round, Moreno's persistence had paid off as he fought in the UFC for the first time ever.
It was UFC veteran Tim Elliott who would win the competition and challenge then-champion Demetrious Johnson for the title, losing a unanimous decision to 'Mighty Mouse'.
First UFC stint
Moreno provided a huge upset in his debut and submitted Smolka in just the second loss of the UFC veteran's career, also earning himself a $50,000 bonus.
“I don’t know if the last-minute fight and that there was no pressure helped me. In the cage, I felt excited, emotional – but I felt really, really good," he said after the win.
"I enjoyed the fight, I felt stronger than Smolka. I traded punches with him and Smolka wasn’t as strong as I thought he was going to be."
Moreno fought just two months later at the finale of TUF 26 and outpointed Ryan Benoit to pick up his second win for the promotion.
The stars were aligning for Moreno and he was booked to fight perennial contender Dustin Ortiz in a fight that would move the winner closer to a title shot.
'The Assassin Baby' went unbeaten in ten fights by submitting Ortiz and broke into the top ten at 125-pounds with the victory.
Cut from UFC
Things took a turn for the worse for Moreno when he lost back-to-back fights against Pettis and old rival Pantoja.
The flyweight was handed his walking papers despite still being ranked in the top 10 of the division and he was now a free agent.
Moreno was one of several flyweights to be cut from the UFC, as the promotion completed a trade deal with ONE Championship that saw long-time champion Johnson depart.
“Its crazy and very strange. On one hand the UFC is cutting left and right the flyweights. I don’t even know who’s left, very few fighters," Moreno told MMA Fighting after being cut.
"I think five might even be too many. There’s Joseph Benavidez, Alexandre Pantoja, and I think that’s it. I don’t know.
Moreno contemplated moving up to 135-pounds after talks of the UFC scrapping their flyweight division entirely.
But he instead debuted for Legacy Fighting Alliance 13 months after his UFC exit and won the promotion's 125-pound title against Maikel Perez.
Second stint
Despite having less than 15 flyweight fighters on their roster, the UFC resigned Moreno less than 18 months after he was cut to face newcomer Askar Askarov.
Moreno fought to a draw with the Russian, but three consecutive wins in his next fights would earn him a title shot against Figueiredo.
A fightback from Moreno in the championship rounds - accompanied with a point deduction for Figueiredo - meant the pair fought to a majority draw and Figueiredo retained his belt.
The pair would inevitably meet again six months later and this time there was no controversy as Moreno outclassed Figueiredo to submit the Brazilian in the third round.
An emotional Moreno received a huge roar from the crowd as he became the first-ever Mexican born champion in UFC history.
"I worked so hard for that f****** belt, I have 10 years as a professional, 15 years doing this sport, and this moment is so special," he said after the fight.
"This training camp took three years off my life, but I don’t care, I have the belt right now and that is the most important thing."
