Brandon Moreno lists potential opponents for first flyweight title defense, Cody Garbrandt on the list

UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno listed potential opponents for his first flyweight title defense and Cody Garbrandt on the list.

Moreno submitted Deiveson Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion this past weekend at UFC 263. Given that he and Figueiredo have now fought twice, with the first fight being a draw, there is the chance that the UFC could run the trilogy fight back immediately given how exciting the first two fights have been. But with Moreno making the rematch look easy, there is also the chance that someone else gets their chance to fight for the belt, and Moreno has a few names in mind.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Moreno admitted that while Figueiredo is always a potential opponent, he is looking at some other names for his next fight. One of them is Garbrandt, who might drop down to 125lbs after losing to Rob Font in his last outing, and the other names are Askar Askarov and Alex Perez, who BJPenn.com reported are fighting July 31.

“Man, I mean, (Figueiredo) is always a possibility. He’s the former champ, he looked impressive in his last performance. But I don’t know man, to be honest, I think the fight was very dominant by myself,” Moreno said.

“A lot of different names are right now on the roster. Cody Garbrandt — he lost his last fight (against Rob Font), but he’s a former champ, too, he has a name so he can be a possibility. This Russian guy Askar Askarov — he fought against Joseph Benavidez in his last fight, and help he looked impressive. We fought in 2019, it was a draw, so we have unfinished business. Other possibilities — actually he will fight against Alex Perez (on July 31), maybe the winner of that one can be the next one.”

Who do you want to see Brandon Moreno fight in his first UFC flyweight title defense?