Brandon Moreno thought he had the win in the bag at Noche UFC, and was surprised to see one judge thought he lost.
Moreno (24-10-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC), a former UFC flyweight champion, snapped a two-fight losing skid Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 288 in Glendale, Ariz. He defeated Joseph Morales in a split decision that had two 30-27s in his favor and one 29-28 against him. Moreno admits things got scary for a moment, as he didn't think the fight was close, and thought he could get robbed from the victory.
"I have bad experiences with decisions," Moreno said at the UFC Fight Night 286 post-fight interview. "I was saying that in Spanish, sometimes when I finish a fight and I'm going to a decision with the judges, I'm trying to be
very honest with myself, like, 'Maybe this fight is kind of weird – maybe I can lose.' In this one I finished, and I felt super confident I got the victory, but then a judge said 29-28 Morales, and I was like, 'What the f*ck?' But then the other judges said 30-27, 30-27, so I felt more confident. But yeah, it was a little scary."
Many were questioning Moreno's standing among the elite at flyweight entering Saturday's event. Moreno was coming off back-to-back defeats and was 2-4 in his last six bouts. Although the win should keep critics at bay, Moreno is not too worried about what people think of his current form.
"I don't know. I think that the job is for the analysts," Moreno said. "I think they're going to throw a lot of opinions, whatever. I don't care. Morales is super tough. Everyone is waiting on numbers and rankings and whatever, but they have to understand these guys are tough. He got released from the UFC, and then he came back and won 'The Ultimate Fighter.' He was super tough and was ready to do the upset. Fortunately, I was super focused, and I got the victory."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Brandon Moreno surprised by split decision scoring in Noche UFC win: 'What the f*ck?'
