The octagon interview given by Brandon Moreno at UFC 283 didn’t sit well with Henry Cejudo.
After putting an end to his quartet match with Deiveson Figueiredo, Moreno was all smiles. He recovered the UFC undisputed flyweight belt after a third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO victory.
The Mexican exclaimed, “Viva Mexico, Perros” in Spanish after his significant victory. In Cejudo’s opinion, that remark was insulting to the Brazilian audience.
In response to Moreno’s cage interview, the former UFC champion in two divisions said:
“You just called the Brazilian people dogs… I wouldn’t say that right after, maybe when you’re with your Mexican people, you say that, and they’ll get it. I just think what he said was out of line and out of context. I could also see what he was trying to say or mean by that.”
Cejudo added the following to his explanation:
“Maybe he just got excited and said the word perro dogs. If you translate it, it’s like, ‘long live Mexico, you dogs… They started throwing all kinds of beer and other things like that.”
Brazilian supporters hurled drinks and other things at Moreno as he was being hauled out of the Octagon. It should be mentioned that Cejudo and Moreno’ were formerly close friends until they had a falling out.
Additionally, Cejudo has aided Figueiredo in getting ready for his most recent matches.
It’s possible that Moreno’s statements were mistranslated. The newly crowned undisputed UFC flyweight champion had no intention of disrespecting the Brazilian supporters.
In four of his last five bouts, Brandon Moreno has faced Deiveson Figueiredo. But Moreno’s camp also had brushes with racism. One of his cornermen previously used a monkey filter on an instagram video of Figueiredo after Moreno had lost to him.
Henry Cejudo also said: “Brandon hasn’t evolved. He still doesn’t know how to check kicks. You can hit him at will if you time it correctly.”
Despite Cejudo’s criticism, Moreno is ecstatic after winning back the UFC flyweight title. The 29-year-old will probably take some time off to rest and heal. When he comes back, a flyweight contender is already scheduled. The next title match is anticipated to be between Moreno and number-two-ranked Alexandre Pantoja.
As for Figueiredo, he’s announced he would be moving up and cannot endure flyweight weight cuts any more.