UFC 283 approaches and while former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno faces a change in the loss of James Krausefrom his coaching squad, his head grappling coach says the level of focus and stability is better than ever.
That’s largely due to the tight-knit team Moreno crafted around him. For the past three fights, Moreno has comprised a boxing-style training camp around him. While he visited Krause in Missouri, much of his camp took place in Las Vegas, explained Hector Vasquez, who owns Cobrinha BJJ Las Vegas.
A protege of Rubens Charles Maciel, Vasquez is the first and only black belt to complete the “Super Slam,” which consists of ADCC, World Championship, Pan Championship, European Championship, and Brazilian Nationals titles.
He took a leap of faith, packed up his bags and moved to Las Vegas, where he brushed shoulders with prominent MMA figures like Sean Shelby, Ali Abdelaziz, and eventually Khabib Nurmagomedov and Javier Mendez.
One thing led to the next, and before long, Cobrinha BJJ Las Vegas emerged.
Now 45, Vasquez is fully focused on coaching, particularly with a limited number of high-level clientele including Moreno and rising UFC prospects Raul Rosas Jr., and Viktoriya Dudakova.
“I’m just blessed to have a great life and do what I love to do,” Vasquez recently told MMA Junkie. “It’s something I’ve always wanted my whole career of working a 9-5 job. I’m able to do something I have passion for. I’m just grateful.
Under Vasquez, Moreno has gone 2-1. He won the flyweight title against Deiveson Figuieredo, then lost it to the same opponent. In July he defeated Kai Kara-France to earn a fourth bout vs. Figueiredo, which will take place Jan. 21 at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Moreno entrusted Vasquez, as well as boxing coach Jorge Capetillo and muay thai coach Pedro Lopez Joya with key leadership responsibilities. Moreno also maintains a deep group of training and sparring partners around him including Marcelo Rojo and Masio Fullen.
“Right now, honestly there’s not really a leader,” Vasquez said. “We all know what we need to do. He believes in everybody. He believes in Capetillo. He believes in Joya. He believes in the wrestling coach. He believes in myself. Right now, like he told us, we’re going to keep working. We know what we need to do. He believes in us, so honestly, everybody is there for his best interest. Nobody has no ego. Everybody works together so well. That’s why I think the crew right now is stronger than ever.”
On Dec. 2, the UFC banned Krause from coaching fights in the promotion and barred fighters from training under him or at his gym due ongoing “government investigations” into potential illegal betting activity.
Fighters who trained under Krause were allowed to remain in scheduled bouts as long as they immediately disassociated. That included Moreno, who was halfway through a title fight training camp.
Despite the adversity, Vasquez indicated Moreno’s true home base has always been Las Vegas. He also suggested Moreno is as focused as he’s ever been and is hungry to get back the UFC flyweight title.
“It didn’t affect us at all,” Vasquez said. “It is what it is. Brandon doesn’t get involved in that stuff. We try to keep him out of that. He’s very strong-minded. That’s what people don’t realize. This kid, there’s nothing that’s going to get in his way. He’ll fight and do what he’s got to do and figure it out. Even with everything that’s been going on, he’s straight-faced, back to work on Monday and was like, ‘Let’s go.’ Like I said, you’re going to see the best Brandon Moreno ever.”
The eyes are on the prize – and that’s UFC gold. Currently, the lifetime series between Moreno and Figueiredo is 1-1-1, which sets the table for the first tetralogy in UFC history. Figueiredo might have gotten the most recent laugh in, but Vasquez feels confident Moreno will get the last one.
“Obviously, with the team, we go back and we look at all the fights, all the tendencies, everything that he took from the move to Arizona and those guys (Fight Ready MMA) what they added (to Figueiredo)” Vasquez said. “They made some adjustments. Of course, we need to make adjustments there. I think we make a lot of adjustments, just by seeing a lot of the stuff that we saw. I just feel like we’ve got to put the pressure. We’ve got to go back to what we did in the second fight and wear him out. He cuts a lot of weight and right now a guy that big that regains 20-25 pounds, you’ve got to wear him out. You’ve got to work and just keep cooking him until he breaks and take advantage like we did in the second fight.
“… (Our) coaches, everybody, the striking coaches, the wrestling coach, myself, we made a lot of adjustments after seeing what they were doing. I feel like we had a great game plan a while back, even with the Kai Kara-France fight. You saw a couple things that were different. He used his kicks more. Yeah, man. Honestly, if we were to fight next week, we’d be ready.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 283.
