Former two-time flyweight champion Brandon Moreno erased a stigma from his last UFC Mexico outing, winning a unanimous decision against Steve Erceg in a flyweight title eliminator bout in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event, sweeping the cards 49-46, 49-46, 49-46 over the former flyweight title challenger in Mexico City.
Although the fight was closely competitive, Moreno won all but one round – Round 3 – on all three cards as Moreno (23-8-2 MMA, 11-4-2 UFC) kept the fight standing and made the Australian-born Erceg come to him the entire fight. Despite Erceg (12-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) hanging in the pocket, it wasn’t enough to overcome the home crowd and spring the upset.
Moreno called out chief business officer Hunter Campbell regarding guidance for his next fight. Although Moreno didn’t name a would-be opponent explicitly, he did request to be part of UFC 320, scheduled for Sept. 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.
Manuel Torres overwhelmed 12-year UFC veteran Drew Dober to secure a first-round TKO in the night’s co-main event, where Dober took at least 16 unanswered shots to the side of the head before the referee stopped the fight. Torres (16-3, 4-1) is back in the win column for the first time in over a year, whereas Dober (27-15, 13-11) has lost four of his last five dating to May 2023.
Flyweight Edgar Chairez needed one punch to pounce on CJ Vergara to set up an eventual face crank submission victory at 2:30 of Round 1. Chairez (12-6, 2-2-1) finally got off the snide after a bumpy start to his UFC career, winning two of his last three bouts to get to .500 in the promotion. Vergara (12-7-1, ) had his losing streak extended to three, going nearly two years without a promotional win.
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. (11-1, 5-1) ignited his hometown crowd to earn his fifth win over his last six appearances, using his crisp boxing to frustrate Morales (16-10, 3-8), who had not earned a win in MMA since last August before being re-signed to the promotion shortly thereafter. It was Morales’ third straight loss.
Dana White Contender Series alumni David Martinez emphatically won his UFC debut, needing just 4:36 of the opening round to earn a TKO win against Saimon Oliveira at bantamweight. Martinez (12-1, 1-0) has won eight in a row since losing his first fight nearly four years ago. Meanwhile, Oliveira (18-6, 0-3) is still searching for his first UFC victory and has lost three straight fights.
The UFC Fight Night main card got underway with flyweight prospect Kevin Borjas earning a decision win against Ronaldo Rodriguez, taking the cards 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. Borjas (10-3, 1-2) earned his first UFC win after dropping his initial two outings, while Rodriguez (17-3, ) saw a seven-fight winning streak halted dating to November 2020.
–Field Level Media
