Deiveson Figueiredo wasn’t able to score the emphatic finish he predicted tonight at UFC 256, but he did emerge from his thrilling fight with Brandon Moreno, as the flyweight champ.

Round one

Figueiredo opened up with a spinning kick to the body that just missed. Figueiredo clinched up but was forced to scramble on account of Moreno’s grappling counter. Figueiredo dug to the body but Moreno fired back. Moreno slipped to floor after missing a head kick but kicked the champ off. Figueiredo winged in several hard punches but Moreno continued to fire back shots of his own. Both fighters just missed with head kicks late in the round.

Round two

Moreno landed several punches early into the second frame, as Figueiredo pressed forward. Figueiredo tagged Moreno with a big right but the challenger countered. Figueiredo charged in with an elbow but Moreno took him down. Moreno took an eye poke in the scramble. Figueiredo popped his way up and out, and both men fired huge shots. Moreno ate a huge left hook from Figueiredo. Moments later, Moreno stunned Figueiredo with a massive overhand right.

Moreno signaled something was wrong with his eye, after taking a punch, and momentarily, took Figueiredo down. What a fight.

Round three

Moreno’s right eye had considerable swelling around it to begin round three. Figueiredo came out bombing big shots to begin the round. Moreno cliched up and pushed the champ to the fence around 90 seconds in. Moreno broke away and Figueiredo continued to pressure. Moreno continued to eat hard punches and return fire.

Late in the round, Figueiredo sent Moreno to the deck with a kick to the cup. Not good.

Wow. Referee Jason Herzog deducted a point from Figueiredo for the low blow.

Moments later, Figueiredo took Moreno down but the latter worked his way up and out. Moreno scored with a right late in the frame.

Round four

Figueiredo continued to pressure to begin round four. Moreno planted some hard shots and then stunned Figueiredo with a kick. Moreno countered a takedown attempt from the champ and took the top position. The champ quickly got back to his feet and resumed his attacks. Moreno tagged Figueiredo with shots moments later, but after stumbling, he resumed pressuring. Figueiredo scored with some heavy punches but was countered with a takedown. Figueiredo got back to his feet and both men winged punches.

Round five

Figueiredo fired kicks early in the frame. The champ continued to wing big hooks. Moreno’s left forearm started swelling after blocking a hard hick from Figueiredo. The fighters fought at range for a while and then Moreno pushed Figueiredo to the cage. Moments later, Figueiredo swept Moreno to the floor with a beautiful trip. What a fight.

Two judges had the score 47-47 – Figueiredo was deducted a point – so it’s a majority draw.

UFC 256 results

Here are the complete results for UFC 256, which was hosted by the Apex Facility in Las Vegas.

Deiveson Figueiredo versus Brandon Moreno declared majority draw (47-46, 47-47, 47-47)

Charles Oliveira def. Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Mackenzie Dern def. Virna Jandiroba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Kevin Holland def.  Ronaldo Souza via KO (punches) R1, 1:45

Ciryl Gane def, Junior dos Santos via TKO (elbow and punches) R2, 2:34

Cub Swanson def. Daniel Pineda via knockout (punches) R2, 1:52

Rafael Fiziev def. Renato Moicano via knockout (punches) R1, 4:05

Gavin Tucker def. Billy Quarantillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Tecia Torres def. Sam Hughes via TKO (doctor stoppage) R1, 5:00

Chase Hooper def. Peter Barrett via submission (heel hook) R3, 3:02

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