Din Thomas thinks Brandon Moreno is in a must-win situation at Noche UFC.
Former flyweight champion Moreno (23-10-2 MMA, 11-7-2 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he takes on Joseph Morales (14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in Saturday's UFC Fight Night 288 (Paramount+) co-main event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz.
Moreno has never lost three fights in a row. He aims to rebound after back-to-back losses to Tatsuro Taira and Lone'er Kavanagh.
"Joseph Morales has been looking good. Obviously, he was on 'TUF' and just been looking good," Thomas said on Deep Waters. "But to me, this is a do-or-die type of fight for a guy like Brandon Moreno, who's held the belt, who's had his ups and downs."
Former champion Chris Weidman agrees with Thomas.
He sees the promotion setting up "TUF 33" winner Morales for an opportunity to build his name off of Moreno, who has held the UFC flyweight title on two different occasions.
"Love watching him fight but this is definitely like you said, almost like gatekeeper territory," Weidman said of Moreno. "They're trying to see if he's the guy that if you beat, you're up there in the top five, top 10 immediately afterwards. I'm guessing the UFC sees something special in Joseph Morales. They're giving him an opportunity to fight Brandon Moreno."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Din Thomas: Noche UFC 'a do or die type of fight' for Brandon Moreno
