LAS VEGAS – Dana White is raving about Brandon Moreno’s stardom.
When asked about newly crowned interim flyweight champion Moreno (20-6-2 MMA, 8-3-2 UFC) being the biggest Mexican star in the UFC at Tuesday’s 48 post-fight news conference for Dana White’s Contender Series 48, White said he’s a lot more than that.
“Not (just) Mexican – he’s one of the biggest stars that we have,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “He’s one of the biggest stars on the roster. When we do (autograph) signings with Brandon Moreno, he’s one of the most popular fighters in the company. He’s your typical durable, badass Mexican fighter.
“You see him come out with the headband like Julio Cesar Chavez the other day, and what does he do? He comes out with the Julio Cesar Chavez headband and then finishes the fight with a body shot. You ever think of that? That’s pretty f*cking awesome, to be honest with you.”
Moreno stopped Kai Kara-France in this past Saturday’s UFC 277 co-main event in Dallas to win the interim flyweight title. He is expected to fight in a title unifcation bout with champion Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) next in what will be their fourth fight.
Their series is currently tied at 1-1-1. Their first fight ended in a majority draw. Moreno won the rematch, but Figueiredo captured the belt back in the trilogy fight. The MMA world doesn’t often see the same fighters battle it out a fourth time, but White expects the matchup to sell in a big way.
“We could do it wherever,” White added. “Wherever we end up, we end up. We could do that fight in Alaska. It’s going to be a big fight. People are going to want to see it. It’s just, you could watch those guys fight 10 times. It’s very rare – doesn’t happen often.”
