Brandon Moreno reveals Deiveson Figueiredo's heel hook to his previously-injured knee made him 'uncomfortable' during fight at UFC 283

Brandon Moreno revealed that Deiveson Figueiredo’s heel hook attempt made his previously injured knee uncomfortable.

‘The Assasin Baby’ re-gained the UFC flyweight championship with a third-round doctor’s stoppage on January 21. In the aftermath of UFC 283, a YouTube video series of Moreno’s training camp showed that he suffered a severe knee injury before fighting Figueiredo.

During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the Mexican-born fighter had this to say about ‘Deus Da Guera’ going for a heel hook on his injured leg:

“It was weird. I got stem cells there, so that helps a lot… In the first round against Figgy, he went for a heel hook exactly in the same knee… It was uncomfortable, to be honest.”

Moreno survived Figueiredo’s first-round heel hook attempt and emerged victorious. Shortly after the fight, the former flyweight world champion took off his gloves to announce he’s moving up to bantamweight, ending his rivalry with ‘The Assasin Baby.’

Watch Brandon Moreno on The MMA Hour below:

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Brandon Moreno discusses the fight-ending sequence against Deiveson Figueiredo

Brandon Moreno ended the UFC 283 co-main event with a left hook that closed Deiveson Figueiredo’s right eye. Figueiredo initially thought he was illegally poked in the eye, but Moreno shut down those accusations. During the same interview with Ariel Helwani, ‘The Assassin Baby’ defended himself by saying:

“I work that punch every single day with my coaches, with my boxing coach especially, Jorge Capetillo. I understand the point. After the hook, I throw the right hand, but my right hand was in this position here [straight up], and I punched the other eye. It was weird… Maybe they thought I poked his eye, but nah, man, the answer is that I never felt nothing illegal.”

Moreno’s win at UFC 283 ended the quadrilogy rivalry with Figueiredo. They first fought in December 2020, with a majority decision leading to a rematch. Six months later, ‘The Assasin Baby’ won his first UFC world championship, which he then lost to ‘Deus Da Guerra’ in January 2022.

After becoming the interim flyweight champion against Kai Kara-France, Moreno fought Figueiredo for the fourth time on January 21. Now that the Brazilian is moving to bantamweight, the reigning 125-pound champion will start a new chapter by most likely fighting Alexandre Pantoja in June or September.