It’s not often UFC title fights end in a draw. In fact, out of hundreds of championship bouts in UFC history, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno was just the fourth to conclude without a winner.
That scenario benefits Figueiredo, of course, because he left with his flyweight title reign in tact.
The majority draw felt like something of a fitting end, though, given the absolute hell Figueiredo and Moreno brought the octagon for 25 minutes. Ignoring the fact a questionable point deduction to Figueiredo for a low blow – as well as an even more questionable scoring of the fifth round to Moreno by judge Junichiro Kamijo – is what led to our draw, it didn’t seem like an outrageous outcome.
If the scoring and refereeing were perfect, Figueiredo wins that fight in a super narrow decision. This, however, is the best possible result for the health of the UFC flyweight division.
We all know the deal with 125 pounds at this point. UFC reluctantly carried the division during Demetrious Johnson’s reign before trading him away once he lost, then Henry Cejudo came in to “save” the weight class, which he may or may not get too much credit for.
What’s really saving the division, though, is fights like Figueiredo vs. Moreno. We’ve yet to mention that both men came into this contest on a 21-day turnaround from UFC 255 on Nov. 21, and you wouldn’t know it with the pace they fought at.
Figueiredo and Moreno produced an instant classic, and now there’s a rivalry and storyline to generate interest in the weight class going forward. Neither man got the win or Saturday, but in the bigger picture, they won for all the flyweights and their future security.
Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/5-biggest-takeaways-from-ufc-256-a-righteous-draw-and-just-how-good-is-charles-oliveira
