Former two-time flyweight champion Brandon Moreno erased a stigma from his last Ultimate Fighting Championship Mexico outing, winning a unanimous decision against Steve Erceg in a flyweight title eliminator bout at the UFC Fight Night main event, sweeping the cards 49-46, 49-46, 49-46 over the former flyweight title challenger in Mexico City.
Although Saturday’s fight was closely competitive, Moreno won all but one round – Round 3 – on all three cards as the 31-year-old kept the fight standing and made Erceg come to him throughout the bout.
Moreno never came close to securing a finish against his opponent, but he outlanded his adversary 82-67 in total strikes, ensuring the Australian-born Erceg would not spring an upset against the hometown favourite.
Post-fight, Moreno called out UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell regarding guidance for his next fight. Although Moreno did not name a would-be opponent explicitly, he requested to be part of UFC 320, scheduled for September 13 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“I think I can move the needle,” Moreno said after the fight.
Erceg has dropped three in a row after a rapid UFC start, going back to the drawing board again.
“I’ll be back,” Erceg said.
In the night’s co-main event, Manuel Torres overwhelmed 12-year UFC veteran Drew Dober to secure a first-round technical knockout, where Dober took at least 16 unanswered shots to the side of the head before the referee stopped the fight.
Torres is back in the win column for the first time in more than a year, whereas Dober has lost four of his last five dating to May 2023.
In an earlier fight on Saturday, Mexico’s rising UFC bantamweight star Raul Rosas Jr survived a late scare from Vince Morales to fend off a third-round D’arce choke submission and win a unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
Rosas Jr ignited his hometown crowd to earn his fifth win over his last six appearances, using his crisp boxing to frustrate Morales, who had not earned a win in mixed martial arts since last August before being re-signed to the promotion shortly thereafter.
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