UFC 270 Re-Watch: Figueiredo vs. Moreno
Saturday's co-main event was close and there was dissent amongst the judges in the championship rounds, so why not watch them back and score them again?
Saturday’s flyweight championship co-main event between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo was another instant standout; a tight, competitive affair that featured one key punch at the tail end of the third round and entered the final round deadlocked on most at-home scorecards.
In the end, Figueiredo earned a unanimous decision victory to reclaim the flyweight title for a second time and bring his series with Moreno level across the board at one win, one loss, and one draw for each competitor, setting the stage for what could be the UFC’s first quadrilogy.
Looking at the official scorecards (see below), all three officials saw the opening three rounds the same, awarding Figueiredo the first and third, and Moreno the second, which means each believed the Brazilian’s late knockdown of the champion in the waning seconds of the middle stanza was enough to swing that frame in his favour.
Where they didn’t agree, however, is how the fourth and fifth were scored, as in each round, one official — Wade Vieira in the fourth, and Chris Crail in the fifth — put forth a dissenting score as my friends Scott Fontana and Dan Urban of the Couchside Judges MMA Podcast call it.
So just as I did last summer with the ultra-close bantamweight battle between TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen, I’ve decided to watch the championship rounds back one minute at a time, with the sound off and no distractions, offering up my analysis of each 60-second segment before scoring the rounds.
It’s not necessarily that I think the judges got it wrong — I scored the fight 48-47 for Figueiredo just as they did — but with competitive fights like this, a second watching is never a bad thing.
Here we go.
Round 4
5:00 to 4:00: Figueiredo takes the center and attacks the outside of Moreno’s lead leg immediately. Moreno attempts another spinning low calf strike, but misses badly. It’s 30 seconds into the round and only one strike has been landed on either side. Figueiredo fakes a level change, reaching forward for the lead leg and Moreno bites hard, throwing himself off-balance as he looks to slip out of the way. Good jab by Figueiredo followed by another outside low kick to the lead leg. Moreno misses with a left hook, Figueiredo drops his body and feints a shot, and Moreno again bites hard and gets off balance. Front kick up the middle lands for the challenger. Moreno lands his first strike of the round, an inside low kick to Figueiredo’s lead leg while the Brazilian is in a southpaw stance.
4:00 to 3:00: Moreno lands the spinning low calf kick to the outside of Figueiredo’s right leg, with a kick to the midsection landing soon after that draws a smile from the Brazilian. Figueiredo returns fire and Moreno adjusts his cup after; didn’t look like it landed low and the action isn’t paused. Figueiredo feints, but doesn’t throw, and Moreno lands an overhand right, but misses wildly with a left hand behind it, throwing himself off balance again before doing the “what are you gonna do?” shrug to acknowledge his recklessness. They trade jabs before Figueiredo throws a three-strike combo, all of which are blocked. Outside low kick from Figueiredo lands and Moreno is just a tick late with the counter right.
3:00 to 2:00: Lots of feints, but not a lot being thrown. Left kick to the body from Moreno is taken on the arms by Figueiredo. Right and a left each miss by a hair for Moreno as the former champion dips out of the way. Figueiredo reaches on a lead left (from southpaw) and Moreno takes his balance away with an inside low kick. Short overhand left lands, but without much on it for Moreno after Figueiredo presses forward and misses. Figueiredo lands another outside low kick, but Moreno is the one pressing forward now for the first time in the round. Jab lands clean and true. Lead left hook touches Figueiredo’s jaw, but he returns with a double jab from orthodox that backs Moreno off. He scores with it again as Moreno dips for a left hook.
2:00 to 1:00: Lead left hook just misses for the challenger. They’re just out of range of each other’s punches and look like they may have clashed heads as Figueiredo closes the distance and secures a body lock with 96 seconds remaining in the round. He looks for the outside trip, but Moreno stays upright backpedaling to the fence. Figueiredo slips around to his back with his hands locked around the waist, lands a couple knees to the thighs / glutes on each side.
1:00 to 0:00: Moreno fights the hands, gets free, and looks to punch his way off the fence, but can’t connect with anything of impact, prompting Figueiredo to close the distance and look to tie up once more, each man swinging a little wildly before the reset into the center of the Octagon. Left kick from Moreno is taken on the forearms by Figueiredo. Another outside low kick for Figueiredo. Jab to the body for Moreno. Figueiredo looks for the lead leg again, but Moreno lefts his foot and avoids the kick. Left hook for the champ as the challenger jumps in, but Figueiredo is unbothered. HORN!
Analysis: It really is impressive how patient Figueiredo fought and how hesitant Moreno was for stretches of this contest.
Looking at the official numbers on UFCstats.com, it credits Moreno with 20 significant strikes to Figueiredo’s 15, but it didn’t appear that he landed that many blows, unless he was getting marks for some of the glancing stuff that didn’t look like it landed flush from my vantage point. Neither man landed a great deal, but those outside leg kicks from Figueiredo continued to pile up and impact Moreno’s movement, and there was nothing the champion did that really prompted me to think he’d done enough to swing things in his favour.
Score: 10-9 Figueiredo, 39-37 Figueiredo
Round 5
5:00 to 4:00: Figueiredo again takes the center, presses forward, and opens with a kick to the outside of Moreno’s lead leg. Both men miss with a couple punches in tight, and Moreno looks to be a little more aggressive already this round, coming forward now. Figueiredo misses with another outside low kick. Moreno rushes forward and secures a body lock and takes Figueiredo down in space, landing in side control. Figueiredo quickly recovers half guard, frames off Moreno’s head and lands a punch from his back. The challenger elevates the champion with butterflies, gets his left knee in for space, and kicks away, standing up in the process; really great work to get back to his feet quickly.
4:00 to 3:00: Jab from Figueiredo is short. Inside low kick lands, but he eats a left hook for his troubles. Rushing left hook to the body for Moreno. Figueiredo changes levels as Moreno throws a hook, looks to drag him down, but can’t. Short elbow to the temple from Figueiredo in the clinch as Moreno is recovering his balance. Lead left hook lands for Figueiredo. Right hand for the challenger is through. Jab for Moreno finds a home and knocks Figueiredo off balance, with the champion landing a left hook behind it.
3:00 to 2:00: Neither man throws anything for the first 25 seconds of the round, offering only feints. A jab to the body is the only thing that lands clean as both throw a couple shots in tight. Moreno reaches and misses with a left hand, Figueiredo answers with a right that is taken on the gloves. Left hook-right cross lands for Moreno and sits Figueiredo down a little, who uses it as a chance to look for a takedown, but Moreno stuffs it easily. Right hand down the pipe puts Moreno on his butt at the 2:11 mark, but he’s up quickly and Figueiredo can’t capitalize. Left high kick lands for Figueiredo. Two hooks land in tight for the champion.
2:00 to 1:00: One-two for the challenger is blocked, and Moreno rushes forward looking to counter, landing a reaching left hand as Figueiredo retreats. Figueiredo reaches for a right hand and Moreno clips him with a left for coming in. Outside low kick for Figueiredo right as Moreno is gearing up to throw.
1:00 to 0:00: Each man tepidly offers a kick that is nowhere close, with Figueiredo look to go high afterwards, but missing the mark. Moreno extends his hands as if to say, “What are we doing here?” as Figueiredo happily stays on the outside, but it draws the Brazilian forward. Figueiredo lands a clean right hand, and another, and waves Moreno in. They finally start letting go with their hands, Figueiredo landing a right, Moreno responding with one of his own. Figueiredo misses wildly, but resets, and Moreno hits him with a right hook after two pawing jabs. Figueiredo calls him forward, than changes levels, but Moreno stuffs it. Compact left in tight for Figueiredo, but the champion responds with four short blows of his own that all land, and then another right and a left. Figueiredo misses wildly again, and Moreno cracks him with a left hand. Two for the champ, one of which knocks Figueiredo’s mouthguard out, and one for the challenger right before the horn.
Analysis: I had forgotten about Figueiredo sitting Moreno down this round, which makes things a little more interesting when thinking about how to score the round. That shot was obviously the most impactful of the round, but did Moreno do enough in the final 30 seconds to make up the difference and win the frame?
I thought he did on Saturday night, offering up a 48-47 score for Figueiredo (Round 1, Round 3, and Round 4), but on second watch, it’s closer to me. Nothing Moreno landed down the stretch dropped Figueiredo or really had him looking like he was in trouble, but there were also a couple instances during the round where good shots prompted takedown attempts from the challenger, which is you you know they landed clean and hurt.
The numbers favour Moreno slightly (21-to-18), not that they’re available to judges or at-home judges in real time, and I lean ever so slightly in his favour, despite the knockdown, in the fifth, but I can absolutely see giving the round to Figueiredo.
Score: 10-9 Moreno, 48-47 Figueiredo
Watching the final 10 minutes back again, it’s really curious to see how tepid Moreno was with his offence through the championship rounds, as there were numerous 15-20 seconds stretches where he didn’t offer anything and the two were simply feinting and staring each other down. I know some of that is tactical — and for Figueiredo, it was clearly his strategy to be more efficient and measured this time around — but it felt like whenever Moreno applied pressure and let go is when he had his most success.
While it’s hard to brawl for 25 minutes and dangerous to constantly be pressing forward, looking to make things ugly against a powerful adversary like “Deus de Guerra,” I do think when Moreno sits down to watch this back (or his coaches watch it back), those extended stretches of inactivity and the lack of variety he offered throughout the fight — and particularly in the final two rounds — are going to be key discussion points.
Moreno was 1-for-1 on takedown attempts, and completed it with ease, which makes you wonder why he didn’t look to go there earlier in the fight and more often. Even though Figueiredo worked back to his feet quickly and showed excellent skills off his back to create space and get free, I wonder if using the wrestling a little more may have helped Moreno drain the energy reserves of the challenger a little more, as the Brazilian remained pretty spry and lively throughout the fight.
On the other side, there’s not much to be critical of in terms of Figueiredo’s performance — he clearly wanted to score at a high percentage without inviting chaos into the contest, did will feinting level changes to keep Moreno guessing, and really worked the outside low kick to the point that it impacted the champion’s movement and effectiveness. Although he doesn’t react particularly well whenever Moreno throws — he looks like he’s scurrying away — Figueiredo did a very good job of not getting hit with too many shots that had a lot of smoke on them, and disguising the few moments when he did.
This was another close, competitive fight between a pair of evenly matched adversaries, and I genuinely hope the UFC does the smart thing and books them for a fourth consecutive meeting later this year.