Former two-time flyweight champion Brandon Moreno returns to the UFC after taking an eight-month hiatus.
Moreno lost his belt to Alexander Pantoja and a match to Brandon Royval shortly after that. The back-to-back losses were a source of concern for the fighter, and he took some time off to get his head straight and figure out his next strategy.
“I think it was the break point,” Moreno said at UFC Edmonton media day on Wednesday. “That’s it. I said this before, I don’t want to put any excuse. I think Brandon Royval is doing an amazing job right now. He’s a tough guy with amazing rhythm in the middle of the fight, but I don’t know, I feel like that night was that kind of night when your mind is not there. That’s very frustrating because I did all the training camp, the elevation, I leave my family for two months, really nice sparring sessions, everything, and then in the fight I wasn’t there. My body was there, but my mind—I don’t know, that’s very frustrating for me.”
Moreno revealed that his loss to Royval hit him hard and caused him to have self-doubts. He said he wasn’t supposed to take a rematch battle with Royval, but his competitive drive got the better of him.
“I think it’s very easy. I’m a competitor,” Moreno said when asked what made him come back sooner than expected. “When I decided to take a little break from competition, everything was fine at that moment, but after that, three weeks after, I’m starting to think again, ‘Damn, I want to fight. I want to fight. I want to fight.’ Then it’s when my wife and my family helped me a lot with that.
“With the help of his coaches and family, Moreno disclosed he was able to find a balance and take a much-needed rest to rediscover himself.
“My wife and my coaches like, ‘Hey, you have to take a break. You have to take it serious. You have to rest, be with your family, with your daughters. Make more nice moments with them first.’ So I had to calm myself. I had this fight with myself in my mind to take this break serious.”
“I am the first Mexican world champion,” Moreno told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 246 media day. “The guy from a huge country with a lot of support on a person. That person is me. It’s not just the training camp. It’s not just the fight. Now it’s about the media, about the responsibilities, the travels, the media tours. I don’t know. Maybe I’m a pussy. Maybe I’m a weak person. Or, maybe other fighters can say, ‘Hey, that’s nothing. Shut the f*ck up and keep going.’ Maybe that’s true, but talking about myself, That’s something huge.
“I’ve been on the grind like two, three years in a row. Fighting in an amazing spot, being around the world, doing a lot of work, a lot of media days. I’m a human being, man. And at some point, it exploded in my mind. And that’s why I decided to take a break.
Despite his past losses, the fighter is ready to get back in the cage and show the world what he is made of. He isn’t discouraged by it and reveals that his competitive nature shows he has the drive to push harder and be better.
“It’s crazy—and I’ve been talking with my coaches about this—I feel very frustrated because even when I lost my last two fights, I feel my prime,” Moreno said. “I feel very strong. I feel stronger, with better technique, with more knowledge about the fight game, just the result is not what I’ve been having [before]. So now my goal is to show that to the world. To back up all my words, to back up all my hard work at the gym and that’s it.”
Moreno is set to face Amir Albazi at UFC Edmonton on November 3rd.
