Promises are a fragile asset, particularly in the fighting industry. After Moreno made him, in 2017, he dropped out of the UFC and lost his following two fights. The value of the promise was plummeting, and Moreno’s market was failing.
Nonetheless, the Mexican maintained his word four years later, more than 1,500 days after committing. Moreno experienced the UFC flyweight championship draping over his shoulder in the same Octagon from which he had been banished as tears streamed down his cheeks.
In June 2021, six months after the two had fought to a draw in their first encounter, Moreno, now 29 years old, defeated Deiveson Figueiredo to win the UFC championship for Mexico for the first time.
The “Assassin Baby” traveled to Brazil in January to unify the flyweight championships in a fourth battle, making Moreno the undisputed champion after submitting Figueiredo to earn the gold medal 13 months earlier. This move elevated Moreno from interim champion to undisputed.
According to Moreno, “Clearly this last one reinforced what I know I am, so that’s why this one was unique.” But because it was my first time, I believe the second fight versus Deiveson is the most significant fight of my life. I was extremely delighted to have won the title and become the first world champion who was born and raised in Mexico. All the hard work and sacrifices had paid off that day.
Until his second match against Moreno, Figueiredo had never been knocked out. Up until his fourth battle with the Mexican, in which the Mexican beat the Brazilian’s eye to the point of dysfunction last month, prompting a ringside doctor to stop the fight, he had never been knocked out or TKO’d. An overwhelming majority of fight fans enjoy the insatiably ebullient Moreno.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting that to be that bizarre,” adds Moreno. Many people believed that I had poked Figueiredo in the eye, but the footage clearly shows that it was a legal punch. However, the crowd was a little perplexed and agitated at the time.
Not just any fighter, Moreno stands out. At the time of writing, the now-dual champion is ranked tenth in the UFC’s pound-for-pound standings, and his four-fight career-defining odyssey with Figueiredo was a display of the Mexican’s diverse skill set. Yet there were pinatas first, before the punching bags.
I was born having witnessed how hard my parents worked to provide for my brothers and me in the pinata business. My early years were incredibly interesting to me! While assisting his parents in their business, which they continue to run today, Moreno turned his full attention to fighting at the age of 22.
The 29-year-old is aware of the burden that comes with needing to support a family, even though Moreno’s parents are currently motivated by that want rather than a need. Three girls, who range in age from two to nine, were born to Moreno and his wife Shirley.
It’s strange because maybe when boys are 17, or 18, they don’t think about family, but when I was younger, I did: ‘I want to be a family guy, have my wife, and my kids, and develop a wonderful, happy family in the future.’ For now, my family is good.
But could Moreno have ever envisaged himself as the father of three daughters?
Well, of course not, he chuckles. “My wife tried to conceive a boy! I don’t know… three daughters, that’s it! She went to her doctor to inquire what she could do to attempt to boost the probability of a male.”
Maddie, Moreno’s eldest child, is understandably the one who is most aware of the nature of her father’s business, and although the champion doesn’t anticipate that she will want to, he acknowledges that he would not stop her from following in his footsteps.
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