Brandon Moreno believes Cody Garbrandt could be his first title defense.
At UFC 263 in June, Moreno became the new flyweight champ as he submitted Deiveson Figueiredo. It was a great performance from the Mexican and ever since he won the belt many have wondered who would be next. There are plenty of options in a Figueiredo trilogy or taking on Alexandre Pantoja, or Askar Askarov. Yet, the champ says a fight between him and Garbrandt could be next.
“Cody Garbrandt wants to come to the division,” Moreno said at a media day scrum (via ESPN). “It’s a huge fight, because I know he’s not in the best part of his career, but he’s a good name. He’s a former champ. He has a really good brand behind him. He’s an option.”
Garbrandt is the former bantamweight champion and a big name in the sport, however, he is coming off a loss to Rob Font so it’s uncertain if the UFC would give him a title shot. He also has been linked to a fight with Kai Kara-France so if he wins that, he could get the title shot, but according to Moreno, he doubts the trilogy with Figueiredo will be next.
“The next name? I don’t know,” Moreno said. “There are a lot of possibilities. I think it’s obvious Figueiredo wants the next one, because he lost the last one. But man, last fight I dominated him since the first minutes of the first round. I dominated him — in the striking, in grappling, in wrestling. Obviously, I’m open to fight again with him. But I think he needs to fight again with somebody [else].”
Regardless of who he faces next, Brandon Moreno is hoping his first title defense happens in November. He is currently on a media tour since winning the belt but will get back into the gym full-time in August. With that, the November timeframe works for the champ, but who he will fight is the big question.
“I don’t care the name,” Moreno said. “I just want to fight on that date.”
Who do you want to see Brandon Moreno fight next?
