Men’s flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo and No. 1 ranked challenger Brandon Moreno fought a five-round, all-out war in the UFC 256 main event on Saturday night.

But in scoring the fight a majority draw, did Nevada’s judges get it right?

Figueiredo and Moreno both made excellent accountings of themselves at UFC 256 and the belt remained around Figueiredo’s waist. But should Figueiredo have won the fight outright, or do you think Moreno earned the nod, especially with Figueiredo losing a point because of a low blow?

Let us know in the comments below…

UFC 256: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno official scorecard

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Dana White UFC 256 full post-fight scrum

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-256-deiveson-figueiredo-vs-brandon-moreno-scorecard-were-the-judges-wrong

We got an instant classic Saturday night at UFC 256, as flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno battled to a majority draw. The fight was an absolute barnburner from start to finish and should reopen the debate for “Fight of the Year” after it seemed Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk seemed to have it locked up back in March.

If there’s something that was disappointing about the UFC 256 main event, it’s that we didn’t get a winner, and that’s for two key reasons.

One:

• Referee Jason Herzog deducted a point from Figueiredo after a hard kick to the groin in the third round.

As a result of this, all three judges scored the round 9-9, meaning they essentially all had it in favor of Figueiredo. Now, in the immediate aftermath of UFC 256, there seems to be some debate about whether Herzog should’ve deducted a point in the first place, but you have to remember that Figueiredo had previously committed a foul with an eye poke. And his kick to Moreno’s groin was absolutely nasty. It’s not hard to see why the ref would deduct a point after that.

Two:

• Judge Junichiro Kamijo scored the fifth round 10-9 in favor of Moreno as part of his 47-47 overall score.

Plain and simply, this was atrocious. Nobody who watched the fight with proper eye sight would score that round for Moreno. Kamijo was the only judge to do that. Even after the fight, Moreno said he regretted not pushing the pace more in the fifth.

Without that inexplicable 10-9, Figueiredo would’ve won a majority decision. So when you look at the scoring, Kamijo is the reason why we ended up with a draw that shouldn’t have been.

Check out the full scorecard below:

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-256-scorecard-figueiredo-moreno-draw-caused-by-inexplicable-fifth

LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White wants to book an immediate rematch between “absolute (expletive)” savages Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno after UFC 256.

Figueiredo (20-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) and Moreno (18-5-2 MMA, 6-2-2 UFC) put on an all-time title fight in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. They fought to a majority draw in an epic back-and-forth battle.

Both men went through tremendous punishment in the five-round contest, but the result begged a second fight to decide a conclusive winner. White agreed to as much, and said he intends to put them back in the octagon as soon as possible.

“We’ve got to give these guys some time off – but you absolutely, positively do that rematch,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at UFC 256. “That’s another fun fight for us all to look forward to in 2021.”

As far as the fight itself, White said he thought the result should’ve been different. He pointed to a point deduction against Figueiredo that came after a low blow as the reason for the draw.

“I had Figueiredo winning the fight,” White said. “(After) the point deduction, the whole fight turned. Moreno started coming on stronger. He probably won that round without the point deduction. That’s when the whole fight started to turn.”

It’s unknown when the rematch between Figueiredo and Moreno will happen. White said both men can “take as much time as they need” after two bouts in 21 days.

The initial bout was a memorable way to close the UFC’s 2020 title fight schedule, though. It already is being discussed as a potential “Fight of the Year,” alongside the brutal UFC 248 title bout between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

White didn’t give a definitive opinion on the best UFC bout of the year, but said both were tremendous fights.

“Joanna and Weili was really good, too,” White said. “It was just so long ago people need to remember how really damn good that fight was.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-256-dana-white-plans-deiveson-figueiredo-vs-brandon-moreno-immediate-rematch

LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White has no clear answers on what the future holds for Tony Ferguson after his loss at UFC 256.

Ferguson (25-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC), a former interim UFC lightweight champion, has consecutive losses for the first time in his career after he was dominated by Charles Oliveira (30-8 MMA, 18-8 UFC) in a unanimous decision defeat in their co-main event matchup at UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday.

After succumbing to a fifth-round TKO vs. Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 in May to snap his 12-fight winning streak, White said prior to UFC 256 that he thought there was good reason to think Ferguson would bounce back. That didn’t happen, and now the UFC boss isn’t sure what’s on deck.

“I thought we were going to see the old Tony,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at UFC 256. “I thought that the last fight he was affected by weight cutting and we were going to see (the old Tony). Ten out of 10 people tap to that armbar (against Oliveira). The fact he even made it through the armbar is unbelievable and just a testament to how tough and durable and crazy Tony Ferguson is.”

After losing his past two fights definitively, Ferguson now will be a subject of speculation. He will turn 37 in February and finds himself in the most challenging moment of his career. Is this just a bump in the road, or is it a notable downward slide? White said he can’t answer that.

“Of course that’s possible (he’s past his prime), but Tony needs to go home and spend the holidays with his family and take some time off and think about what he wants to do next year and we’ll see what’s next for him,” White said. “But yes, every time you fight in this business, that’s always possible.”

One thing that appears to be a new reality for Ferguson at this point, though, is that the lightweight belt could be out of reach for good. A matchup with lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov has been one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history, but it has failed to materialize five times.

It’s unfortunate, but not something White said he dwells on in the current landscape.

“No (I don’t worry about it); it just didn’t (happen),” White said. “It wasn’t from lack of trying. We put that fight together five times. It just wasn’t meant to be. I don’t think about it at all.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-256-dana-white-reaction-tony-ferguson-future-loss-charles-oliveira

Romero Cotton remained unbeaten when he made quick work of Justin Sumter at Bellator 254 on Thursday.

Following his win, Cotton (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) talked reporters through his finish, making advancements in his game during his 11 months off, not worrying about calling anyone out, and more.

You can watch the full interview in the video above.

Bellator 254 took place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on CBS Sports Network after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/romero-cotton-wont-call-anyone-out-focused-on-building-himself-people-are-gonna-start-calling-for-me