Brandon Moreno Vs. Lone’er Kavanagh Breakdown

Brandon Moreno faces Lone’er Kavanagh in Mexico City on February 28, as we breakdown this fight.

Moreno suffered a second-round TKO loss to Tatsuro Taira at UFC 323 in his last fight. This was the first time Moreno had been stopped in his professional career. Prior to that, he secured wins over Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg. Meanwhile, Kavanagh suffered his first professional loss, a second-round knockout at the hands of Charles Johnson last year.

That ended his two-fight UFC winning streak, having beaten Jose Ochoa and Felipe dos Santos, respectively. There had been uncertainty over the event due to killing of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He was killed by Mexican authorities, resulting in mass unrest. However, the card will go ahead.

Pre-Fight

“It has been really hard hours for my Mexican people. It’s weird, man. It’s crazy because, right now, I’m super focused on my fight but, at the same time, I know that a lot of Mexican people are focused on this bad moment. Maybe [the UFC ‘Fight Night’ event] can be a nice moment for the people to try to forget the bad moment and get some joy,” Moreno stated

“Brandon’s a legend, and he seems like a nice guy as well. For me, it’s just when these opportunities come, you take them, and this is what I want. These are the moments. Ilive for, so I’m excited for it. For me, it’s like, I trust my team, you know? I trust my team with everything.

“So, whatever they say, I do – and this is an opportunity you don’t turn down. Obviously, all these come into a factor, but for me, it’s about just making myself as good as I can, and to better myself in every way. I feel like I’ve done that throughout this whole fight camp – feel like I’ve done that since my last fight. So, I’m just excited now to show what I can do,” Kavanagh said

The Approach

Moreno will likely focus on establishing the jab early to stop Kavanagh’s speed. In his win over Steve Erceg, Moreno showed he can still have elite striking by using superior footwork to find angles. Moreno knows Kavanagh is most dangerous in the first 10 minutes; therefore, Moreno will likely force Kavanagh to work and slow him down in the championship rounds. 

Kavanagh is faster and likely hits harder than Moreno. Kavanagh will likely focus on low-calf kicks to target Moreno’s lead leg and hinder the Mexican’s “in-and-out” movement. Since Charles Johnson was able to catch and stop him last year, Kavanagh must be more defensively responsible when entering the pocket.

Full Card

Brandon Moreno vs. Lone’er Kavanagh – Flyweight

Marlon “Chito” Vera vs. David Martínez – Bantamweight

Daniel Zellhuber vs. King Green – Lightweight

Édgar Cháirez vs. Felipe Bunes – Flyweight

Imanol Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas – Flyweight

Santiago Luna vs. Angel Pacheco – Bantamweight

Preliminary Card

Ryan Gandra vs. José Daniel Medina – Middleweight

Ailín Pérez vs. Macy Chiasson – Women’s Bantamweight

Cristian Quiñonez vs. Kris Moutinho – Bantamweight

Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Javier Reyes – Featherweight

Sofia Montenegro vs. Ernesta Kareckaitė – Women’s Flyweight

Erik Silva vs. Francis Marshall – Featherweight

Damian Pinas vs. Wesley Schultz – Middleweight