Brandon Moreno
Brandon Carrillo Moreno (born December 7, 1993) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Flyweight Champion, and in the process became the first Mexican-born fighter to win a UFC championship. A professional since 2011, Moreno also competed at the Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he was the LFA Flyweight champion. As of March 21, 2022, he is #1 in the UFC flyweight rankings. and as of April 12, 2022 he is #14 in the UFC men's pound-for -pound rankings. Background. Moreno was born and raised in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, in a modest family with a piñata business. At the age of twelve, he wanted to lose weight so his mother enrolled him in the local Entram Gym where he started training mixed martial arts. Despite earlier intentions to attend law school and become a lawyer, Moreno decided to focus solely on his mixed martial arts career. Mixed martial arts career. Early career. Moreno made his professional MMA debut in his native Mexico in April 2011. Over the next two years, he amassed a record of 6  wins and 3 losses. In 2014, Moreno would debut for the World Fighting Federation promotion. He would go undefeated in the promotion at 5–0 and would eventually win the Flyweight championship, which led to him being cast in the Flyweight tournament on the 25th season of "The Ultimate Fighter". The Ultimate Fighter. In July 2016, it was revealed that Moreno was a participant on "". Moreno was selected as a member of Team Benavidez. He faced Alexandre Pantoja in the opening stage and lost the fight via decision. Ultimate Fighting Championship. In a rare move, Moreno debuted in the UFC while  his season of "The Ultimate Fighter" was still airing. He faced Louis Smolka at on October 1, 2016. Moreno won the fight via submission in the first round. The win also earned Moreno his first "Performance of the Night" bonus award. In his second fight for the promotion, Moreno returned to face Ryan Benoit on December 3, 2016 at He won the fight via split decision. Moreno next faced Dustin Ortiz on April 22, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 108. He won the fight by submission in the second round and was awarded a "Performance of the Night" bonus. Moreno  faced Sergio Pettis on August 5, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 114. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Moreno subsequently tested positive for clenbuterol from an in-competition urine sample collected on August 6, 2017, a day after his fight with Pettis. USADA has determined that the presence of clenbuterol in Moreno's system likely resulted from clenbuterol-contaminated meat that Moreno had consumed in Mexico, and so Moreno was not punished by USADA. Moreno was expected to face Ray Borg on April 7, 2018 at UFC 223. The bout was cancelled after Borg was injured by glass from  a bus window that was smashed by Team SBG. The pairing was left intact and quickly rescheduled and was expected to take place on May 19, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 129. However, Borg withdrew from the bout to take care of his child from brain surgery, and he was replaced by Alexandre Pantoja. Moreno lost the fight by unanimous decision. In an interview in 2019, Moreno told that he was cut from the UFC in late 2018. Post-UFC career. Moreno signed a multi-fight contract with the Legacy Fighting Alliance and made his promotional debut against the prevailing  Flyweight Champion Maikel Perez at LFA 69 on June 7, 2019. Moreno won the fight via technical knockout in the fourth round. UFC return. Moreno faced promotional newcomer Askar Askarov on September 21, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 159. The back-and-forth bout ended in a split draw. Moreno faced Kai Kara-France on December 14, 2019 at UFC 245. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Moreno faced Jussier Formiga on March 14, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 170. He won the fight via unanimous decision. As the first bout of his new contract, Moreno was expected to  face Alex Perez on November 21, 2020 at UFC 255. However, on October 2, it was announced that Cody Garbrandt, who was scheduled to fight Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC Flyweight Championship at the event, pulled out due to a torn bicep and was replaced by Perez. Moreno instead faced Brandon Royval. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. UFC Flyweight Championship. Moreno faced Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC Flyweight Championship on December 12, 2020 at UFC 256. After five rounds of frenetic back-and-forth fighting in which Figueiredo was deducted 1 point in the third  round due to a groin strike, the bout was declared a majority draw. This fight earned both athletes the" Fight of the Night" award. Moreno rematched Figueiredo for the UFC Flyweight Championship on June 12, 2021, co-headlining UFC 263. Moreno dominated the striking and grappling exchanges and submitted Figueiredo with a rear naked choke in the third round, becoming the first Mexican-born UFC champion in the process. This win earned him the "Performance of the Night" award. The trilogy rematch with Figueiredo for the UFC Flyweight Championship was scheduled to take place on December 11, 2021 at UFC  269 initially, but it was moved to UFC 270 as the co-main event. He lost the bout and the title via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the "Fight of the Night" award. Personal life. Moreno is a big fan of Funko Pop and is a dedicated Lego collector. He and his wife have three daughters. Also fluent in English, Moreno is an active member of the Spanish language mixed martial arts community, and holds multiple podcasts in his native language.