Brandon Moreno made sure he was a step ahead of Deiveson Figueiredo in their fourth fight.
And he left the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday night as a two-time flyweight world champion because of it.
Moreno won the first two rounds of their UFC 283 co-main event convincingly before landing a lunging left hand that made Figueiredo immediately grab his right eye. A bit of controversy sparked as Moreno accidentally poked Figueiredo's eye following the thunderous shot. However, replays showed that Figueiredo was poked in his left eye, proving the damage done to his right eye was due to Moreno's sharp left hand.
Having won his third straight round — with the lunging left hand serving as the anchor — an Octagon-side physician checked on Figueiredo's right eye which was practically swollen shut. It was enough damage for the physician to recommend that the fight be stopped right then and there, as Moreno was credited with the TKO between rounds to become the new and now two-time UFC flyweight champion of the world.
The raucous result came after their first clash ended in a majority draw in December 2020, setting up a rematch which Moreno won by third-round submission (rear-naked choke) six months later.
Figueiredo won the trilogy via unanimous decision in January 2022, before Moreno avenged the loss and ended the rivalry emphatically Saturday night.