UFC Mexico: Moreno vs Kavanagh - Feb 28 🇲🇽

[wandshogun09]

Off to the land of Mamacitas…

PARAMOUNT+ MAIN CARD
Brandon Moreno vs Lone’er Kavanagh 

Marlon Vera vs David Martinez 

Daniel Zellhuber vs King Green 

Edgar Chairez vs Felipe Bunes 

Imanol Rodriguez vs Kevin Borjas 

Santiago Luna vs Angel Pacheco 

PARAMOUNT+ PRELIMS
Jose Medina vs Ryan Gandra 

Macy Chiasson vs Ailin Perez 

Cristian Quinonez vs Kris Moutinho

Douglas Silva De Andrade vs Javier Reyes 

Ernesta Kareckaite vs Regina Tarin 

Erik Silva vs Francis Marshall 

Wes Schultz vs Damian Pinas 

 

First off, is it just me or have the UFC stepped up their poster game since the Paramount deal kicked in? They haven’t all been home runs but I like the Holloway vs Oliveira one and this Mexico one is probably the best poster they’ve done in years. Not that it’s massively important in the grand scheme of things but I really like the poster there. Nice to see someone’s actually putting a modicum of effort in again. The card itself is alright for a Fight Night. Not the deepest, these things are never stacked anymore but I like the main event here, even if I question the matchmaking, and there’s some potentially fun stuff scattered throughout the undercard.

 

 

Brandon Moreno vs Lone’er Kavanagh is our Mexico main event then. Bit of a weird one but circumstances dictated it and it could be a really entertaining fight. It’s not the most logical matchmaking and I’m not sure it’s the wisest move for Kavanagh at this stage but I don’t hate the fight itself. Of course, this was originally supposed to be Moreno against Asu Almabayev but Almabayev withdrew with a hand injury just a few weeks out from the show. Kavanagh was already booked against Bruno Silva on the Apex card a couple of weeks later. The UFC had to scramble around and, given the short notice, it’s not a bad save at all. Again, doesn’t make a lot of sense matchmaking-wise really but what can you do? And as odd and random as it feels, I actually prefer it to the original Almabayev fight. That one was doing nothing for me. This fight at least feels like it has something about it.

I’m not sure what to make of Moreno at this point. He’s had quite a run in the UFC really. From TUF, to the initial stint, to being released in 2018, coming back a year later, the rivalry and quadrilogy with Figgy, becoming the first ever Mexican born champion in UFC history etc. He’s accepted as one of the established names now at the top end of Flyweight but his rise to UFC gold was a real unlikely feel-good success story at the time. He’s gone off the boil a bit more recently though. He lost the title in that FOTY candidate barnburner against Pantoja at UFC 290 in July 2023 and, I don’t know, he hasn’t looked the same since to me. Since then he’s dropped a split decision against Brandon Royval in a fight where I remember Moreno looking really flat. He beat Amir Albazi clearly on points and took a decision off Steve Erceg in a surprisingly dull fight. Then in his last fight in December, he got stopped by the ground and pound of Tatsuro Taira. In fairness, I felt like the stoppage was a tad premature in that one, but it looked like he was heading for a loss regardless. I don’t know. He’s still only 32 but I just get the feeling he’s lost a step or two since that last war with Pantoja. That combined with that gruelling four fight series against Figgy, maybe all those hard battles are catching up to him? Still, he showed in those Albazi and Erceg fights, as lacklustre as they were to watch, he’s still got enough to beat some of the new wave of Flyweights.

London’s Kavanagh is the wild card here. He’s 26 years old, 9-1 and he’s going into hostile territory as the ‘away’ fighter against a Mexican former champion. Don’t know what to expect. For one, I wasn’t that familiar with Kavanagh anyway. He only signed with the UFC in late 2024 and I’ve only seen a few of his fights. He came in with a fair bit of hype though. So much so that I remember actively seeking out his fight on DWCS at the time, where he knocked some sod out in brutal fashion, in front of a Dana White at cageside whose jaw looked like it just about hit the floor. Kavanagh was undefeated at the time and after that KO and Dana’s reaction, you knew he’d got that UFC contract secured. He then made his UFC debut on the Macau card that November, beating Jose Ochoa on points in a decent showing and followed that with another decision win over Felipe Dos Santos on the London card last March. These were good wins but not the type of performances that were gonna knock anyone’s socks off. He got a bit of a step up in August, taking on Charles Johnson on the Shanghai card. And, well…

It did not go well. Kavanagh got knocked out in the second round. His first taste of defeat and in devastating fashion. At 26 and it being his first setback, you knew he obviously had time to bounce back from that loss. It’s not the end of the world and he’s far from being on the scrap heap. But it did raise some questions and exposed some real flaws in his game, especially his defence. The way he pulled straight back with his hands low like that, was just asking for trouble, and a veteran like Johnson wasn’t gonna let him get away with it. It was being talked about like it was an upset at the time, I guess because Kavanagh was unbeaten going in and big things were expected of him. But I disagreed with that. While Kavanagh had looked promising, he was pretty much untested at a high level and despite Johnson having a bunch of losses on his record, he’d been mixing at a higher level than Kavanagh and was only a couple of fights removed from knocking out Joshua Van, who’s gone on to become champ since. Johnson’s inconsistent but on a good day he always has that banana skin potential for a rising prospect. Not a career ender for Kavanagh. Like with any fighter who eats that first loss, it all depends on how he handles it and moves on from here. But this Moreno fight, maybe I’m wrong but I’m not sure it was the move to make.

Like I said, I don’t dislike this fight at all. It could, and really should, be fun to watch. And it’s safe to say, I’ve rambled on much more in this preview for it than I would’ve done if the original Moreno vs Almabayev fight went ahead. There’s definitely more to this one and more to talk about. But I don’t know. Kavanagh just had his first step up against Johnson and got chinned. Now he’s taking an even bigger step up, against the former champ, on the guy’s home turf, on short notice, in a five rounder against a proven five round fighter in Moreno when he’s never gone five rounds himself and he’s coming off his first loss. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, it’s gonna be at high altitude. Don’t get me wrong, I get why Kavanagh is taking the gamble. He’s ranked #15, Moreno’s ranked #6. Moreno was champ, is one of the bigger names in the division etc. There’s a lot to potentially gain for Kavanagh here. And he was already in camp for that Apex card in March anyway so it’s not like he’s rolling in off the sofa. But it feels like he might be biting off a bit more of the burrito than he can chew with this one to me. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong and this will pay off big for him but, even then, a win over Moreno would instantly have him mixing with the Top 5 and I don’t think he’s ready for that. I don’t know. Just feels like he’s trying to run before he’s mastered walking but we’ll see soon enough. I don’t necessarily think it’s the ‘no lose’ situation I’ve seen some make it out to be though. The UFC don’t seem to care if you do them a solid these days. And if Kavanagh drops a second loss on the trot here I’ve got no doubt it’ll be chalked up as a ‘fraud check’. Fair or not, and I do hate that talk and think it’s bollocks myself, you know it’s coming if he loses this fight. 

 

Marlon Vera vs David Martinez is the co-main. Not exactly spoiled for choice with the undercard here but this is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time. It’s an interesting one to me timing-wise. Chito’s really got to make something happen here but they’re throwing him in with a younger, largely unknown guy who’s on a solid winning streak. Feels like it’s the matchmakers half kind of giving up on Chito and just trying to build Martinez up off whatever’s left of his name. But I like it. Chito’s sitting at #9 in the Bantamweight rankings as I type this, Martinez is at #10. So it’s not like there’s gonna be massive movement either way here regardless of the result. It’s a nice opportunity for Martinez against one of the more popular names in the division though, and almost a ‘must win’ for Vera. His back is against the wall here and I’m interested to see how he handles it. 

Like I said, Chito’s undoubtedly one of the most popular Bantamweights on the roster. For whatever reason, people just seem to warm to him, even though he’s had a few dickhead moments. When he fought Sean O’Malley for the title in their 2024 rematch, for all the effort the UFC PR machine put in to keep telling us that O’Malley was a ‘star’, I remember feeling like Chito was getting the bigger reactions a lot of the time that fight week. And that wasn’t the UFC forcing it like they were doing with O’Malley, people just liked Chito. Of course, as is always the case, popularity fizzles when the losses start piling up, especially with American fanbases. And a combination of Chito not being as active of late, going 1-4 in his last five fights and being on a three fight losing streak, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that a lot of the fans that were riding with him in 2024 seem to have abandoned ship in their droves. Fickle, glory hunting twats. We last saw him losing a split decision against Aiemann Zahabi on the Vancouver card in October. Before that he’d been AWOL for over a year following the back-to-back losses to O’Malley and Figgy. Rough times for him, and at 33 it’s not like he’s got bags of time to work with. If he loses again here, a fourth straight L, man, it’s gonna be hard to see a way back for him.

Martinez is obviously gonna be the crowd favourite here. Mexican born, Mexican bred, Mexican trained. He’s 27 years old with a record of 13-1, 10 by KO/TKO and he’s currently on a nine fight winning streak. Can’t say I’ve seen much of him at all. He was on DWCS in late 2024 and won a decision. Made his UFC debut on the last Mexico card last March and put Saimon Oliveira away in a round. Then in September, he got a big step up against Rob Font on the Noche card. He wasn’t scheduled to face Font initially, he was booked on that card against someone else and Font was meant to fight Raul Rosas Jr. But a bunch of fights getting binned forced a shuffle and Martinez found himself in the co-main against Font on short notice. Martinez won by decision. Not sure how this goes. Chito can be very frustrating to watch and often takes big chunks of rounds off. You’d think by now he’d have learned his lesson there but he did it again in the Zahabi fight last time and it cost him again. He’ll never learn. He’s got to turn things around here but I feel like it’s gonna be tough against a younger hungry fighter who’s getting a big opportunity in front of his home crowd.

 

Daniel Zellhuber vs King Green should be an entertaining fight but they’re both in a tough spot now. Zellhuber’s only 26 so, in theory, he still has time. He’s coming off back-to-back losses though. The Esteban Ribovics loss wasn’t so bad. That was a fight many, including me, had as the FOTY in 2024. Absolutely insane scrap at the Sphere. With how good a fight that was, Zellhuber kind of still came out of it with his stock raised even in defeat. He dropped a decision to Michael Johnson in his last fight in July though. That one was more damaging. All due respect to Johnson, he’s beat some top names over the years and is actually enjoying a surprisingly decent run of form lately, but Johnson’s not a guy any young up and comer worth their salt should be losing to. As for Green, man, where do you start? He’s gonna turn 40 later this year and this’ll be his 53rd pro fight. His record stands at 33-17-1-1 and he’s fought almost everyone. Some high highs and low lows but he’s really looked like it’s coming to an end to me in his more recent fights. He suffered that horrible KO loss against Jalin Turner at the end of 2023, rebounded with the Jim Miller win at UFC 300, but then had those brutal losses to Pimblett and Ruffy in 2024/25. It felt like he was done at that point. He clawed one back in December, outpointing Lance Gibson Jr in an awful fight at the Apex. But it’s last legs stuff now. Zellhuber really should be winning this fight at this stage in both their careers.

 

Edgar Chairez vs Felipe Bunes is just there really. Might be alright. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of Chairez, to be fair. He’s Mexican, just turned 30 and has a record of 12-6-0-1 with all his wins not making it to the scorecards. He made his UFC debut back in 2023 and was immediately fed to Tatsuro Taira, which wasn’t ideal, but I remember him giving a decent account of himself in spells despite losing. Since then he’s subbed Daniel Lacerda, lost a decision against Joshua Van in a belter on the Sphere show, then subbed CJ Vergara on the Mexico card last March. Hasn’t fought since for some reason and he’s obviously no world beater. But I like him. Bunes I’m hazy on. Definitely seen him but my memory’s fuzzy on him. He’s Brazilian, 36 years old and 14-8 with 11 finishes. Got stopped by Josh Van in his UFC debut in 2024, bounced back by armbarring Jose Johnson in a round, then lost on points against Rafael Estevam in his last fight in August.

 

Imanol Rodriguez vs Kevin Borjas. Not a clue. Mexico vs Peru. Rodriguez is making his first Octagon appearance and according to Sherdog, he’s 26 years old and undefeated at 6-0 with not one of his fights requiring the judges. Fought on DWCS back in October, winning by first round TKO. That’s all I’ve got on him. Borjas I’ve seen a few times. He’s 28 years old, 10-4 and eight knockouts and he’s had a shitty run of results since arriving in the UFC in 2023. I’ve found him a lot of fun to watch though. He lost to Joshua Van by decision in a cracking fight in his debut, got stopped by Alessandro Costa in his next fight, then he beat Ronaldo Rodriguez in Mexico last year, then lost to Su Mudaerji in Shanghai in August. I remember the Mudaerji fight being a bit of a letdown but the others were all highly entertaining. He’s the kind of fighter I’m hoping they keep around despite the losses.

 

Santiago Luna vs Angel Pacheco is currently scheduled to kick off the main card. That’ll be purely to showcase Luna. It’s very early days with him but - at just 21 years old and 7-0 with a 100% finish rate - he’s looking like a real potential prospect for Mexico. He made his UFC debut on the Noche card back in September and stopped Quang Le in the first round.

From what I remember, it only lasted a couple of minutes but even in that short time Luna looked to be your typical Mexican scrapper. He got put on his arse with a flash knockdown early but immediately answered with violence and got Le out of there. Exciting but showed some vulnerability so I’m not sure how far he can go. Just from the short glimpse we got though, it’s gonna be fun to watch regardless. Pacheco is 34 with a 7-3 record and fought once in the UFC in 2024, losing a decision to Caolan Loughran. No recollection of it but he hasn’t fought since. It’s clear the matchmakers have set this up as a showcase for Luna in front of his home crowd. Hopefully that’s how it goes because if he turns out to be the real deal, he’ll be a fantastic addition to an already bursting at the seams Bantamweight division.

 

Jose Medina vs Ryan Gandra. Dunno, never seen this Gandra fella before but I know Medina is pretty shit so I’m assuming this has been booked with the idea of giving Gandra a squash match for his UFC debut. Gandra’s Brazilian, 30 years old and 8-1 with with six finishes. His lone loss came in his second pro fight, he’s gone on a seven fight win streak since. He last fought on DWCS in August and got the quick first round TKO. Medina though, total ham and egger from what I’ve seen. The Middleweight division’s version of Duane Gill. Every time I’ve seen him, he’s losing. He’s 34 years old, 11-6, has lost four in a row and was finished in the first round in his last two fights. Looking at his record, he actually lost on DWCS so I’m not sure why he was given fights in the UFC immediately after that anyway. Some guys win on that show and don’t get a shot, yet this no hoper keeps getting fights?

 

Macy Chiasson vs Ailin Perez then. Women’s Bantamweight is right there with Heavyweight for me in the way I find myself just groaning with apathy almost every time I see a fight announced in those divisions. Outside of whatever Kayla Harrison or Amanda Nunes are doing, there’s really sod all worth caring about at 135 these days is there? And those two are mid to late 30s and probably only have a couple of fights left. The future of the division looks bleaker than the weather’s been in the UK for the last however many months in a row. As for this particular fight, I have one question. How arse is Ailin Perez?…

That much. She’s awful. Poor woman’s Norma Dumont. Except Norma doesn’t make having chunk in the trunk her whole identity. Perez has nothing else going for her but bouncy bum cheeks. As much as I’m usually somewhat of a connoisseur of that, there’s something off-putting about it when Perez does it. Seems desperate. She’s actually on a five fight winning streak, although over mostly the dregs of the division, which has her ranked #7 currently. That says more about the state of the division and lack of depth than anything though. She’s terrible to watch. Chiasson isn’t any better though. She’s ranked #8, 10-5, coming off back-to-back losses and hasn’t had a single fight I remember even mildly enjoying since entering the UFC back in 2018. Piss break stuff this.

 

Cristian Quinonez vs Kris Moutinho. Deary me. Nothing to see here. This is basically a jobber vs jobber match. Quinonez hasn’t fought in the UFC since February 2024, so two years out of the game. And he was coming off back-to-back submission losses then. And Moutinho has to be on the shortlist for worst fighters in UFC history. He’s 14-7, went 0-2 in his first UFC stint and was released after getting bashed up by Sean O’Malley and Guido Cannetti. Went away, actually won some fights, was brought back last year and got viciously knocked out cold by Malcolm Wellmaker in the first round. OK, he’s not losing to bums. But Christ. Every time I see him he just looks woefully out of his depth. This is fairer matchmaking for him but, still, why’s shit like this even on a UFC card in 2026?

 

Douglas Silva De Andrade vs Javier Reyes is a fight I’m going in blind on. De Andrade has been in the UFC since 2014 and I know him for two things. 1) The ridiculous mullet he was rocking for the longest time. And 2) Having arguably the most stupidly ripped physique on the roster. Still at 40 years old. Not accusing him of anything but he looks like he’s never met a steroid he didn’t take. I’m sure it’s just chicken, salmon and broccoli though. He’s 29-6-0-1 but this’ll be his first fight since June 2024. Colombia’s Reyes is making his Octagon debut. He’s 32 years old, 22-5 with 18 finishes and comes into this fight off a first round TKO win on DWCS in September. No idea how good he is but he’s certainly been more active than old man De Andrade of late. Since De Andrade last fought, Reyes has fought six times.

 

Ernesta Kareckaite vs Regina Tarin is a last minute change. Kareckaite was supposed to fight newcomer Sofia Montenegro but she dropped out a few days out from the show. In steps another newcomer to replace her. I’ve definitely seen Kareckaite fight before but I’ve got no real recollection of it. She’s Lithuanian, 27 years old and 6-1-1. Nicknamed ‘Heavy Handed’ yet only has two finishes to her name. OK then. She’s gone 1-1 in the UFC so far. Tarin actually had a WWE tryout at some point from what I’m seeing. She’s from Mexico City, only 21 years old and undefeated at 7-0 with six finishes, four of them in the first round. She has actually gone into a fourth round in one of her fights as well and got the TKO finish there. Sounds like a solid signing. All the feedback I’ve seen to the news of her signing has been positive. Although I don’t know if that’s all based on her potential or if it’s just perverts being perverts. She sounds promising though. Just a shame they’re bringing her in on short notice. It’d be nice to see fighters like this actually come in with a proper amount of prep time.

 

Erik Silva vs Francis Marshall. Vague on both these guys. Silva is Venezuelan, 38 years old and 9-3 with 7 finishes. He’s actually been on the UFC roster since 2022 but has only fought twice in all that time for some reason, losing both, and hasn’t been seen since early 2024. Looking at his record, his last fight ended via leg injury so that’s obviously the reason for his most recent absence. As a Featherweight pushing 40 though, it’s not looking great for him. Marshall’s got a lot more upside at 26 but he’s had a rough go of it in the UFC himself so far. He’s gone 2-3 and he’s coming into this fight off a split decision loss against Mairon Santos almost a year ago. Like I said, he’s got some time but it’s been going nowhere fast so hopefully he’s changed something up. I know one thing, he can’t afford to be losing to a 38 year old, gimpy legged, inactive Silva here.

 

Wes Schultz vs Damian Pinas. For the last time, not a single idea on this. UFC debut for both. I’ve heard of this Pinas bloke just because of his surname. Like whenever Song Yadong fights, expect lots of dick jokes on social media going into this fight. Looking him up, he’s from Aruba, 23 years old and he’s 8-1, all finishes. Last fought on DWCS in September and won via first round TKO. Schultz looks like a Temu version of Elias Theodorou (RIP) in that pic there. He’s American, 29 years old and 8-2 with seven ending inside the distance. His last fight was also on DWCS, winning by first round kneebar back in October.

 

 

That’s your lot.

Edited February 25 by wandshogun09

[wandshogun09]

Don’t know if everyone’s forgot that this is two days away but I think I’m gonna have to root against the English fighter in the main event this time. Brandon Moreno was asked about possibly fighting on the White House card and his response was quality…

Go on Brandon! 🤣

[Dai]

The poster isnt awful, so things do seem to be improving there. 

If we are to believe that the bookies know what they are talking about, then the bulk of this card will be like an episode of WWF Superstars from the early 90s...squash matches galore. From the King Green match downwards, there are huge betting favourites in 6 of the 7 matches in a row. Will be interesting to see if it pans out that way.

[Egg Shen]

Yeah, as a regular better on these I think this is comfortably the most lopsided main card ive ever seen for a UFC.

[wandshogun09]

Not the strongest card but there’s some decent stuff on there and the Mexican crowd is always lively. Main event is an intriguing one and I could be wrong but I’ve got a feeling Moreno gets it done. Feel like the step up combined with the short notice combined with the altitude combined with the experience gap (especially over five rounds) might prove to be just a bit too much of an ask for Kavanagh at this stage of his career. We’ll see though. Hopefully it’s a better fight to watch than Moreno’s last few anyway. Reckon Martinez might beat Chito in the co-main as well. I’ve lost confidence in Chito and Martinez looked good against Font last time.

It’s funny but most of the talk I’ve seen about this card this week has been about the debut of Regina Tarin. She jumped in as a last minute replacement earlier in the week, she’s from Mexico City, 21 years old and 7-0. Not sure how much of the prospect talk is real though or if it’s just horny sods typing one handed.

[Egg Shen]

Think its just horny buggers wand. she's the betting underdog going in, so dunno if shes upto much. Didn't she turn down a WWE contract for this though?

[wandshogun09]

Wasn’t sure on the details of that. I know she had a tryout and I saw a pic of her with John Cena and stuff but wasn’t sure why she never pursued that. Her record so far looks alright for a young rookie at that stage in their career but it could all be based on bollocks if the opposition was shite. Time will tell. The women’s game is in desperate need of something though. 

[Egg Shen]

Hell of a performance from Kavanagh. That Charles Johnson stoppage probably made the majority sleep on him but he put an absolute beating on Moreno. For 2 rounds he looked a world beater, it got closer after that but he was still impressive shutting down anything Moreno could do damage wise, and at altitude. I scored it 48-47 Kavanagh but on the damage scale it was a whitewash.

Sacked off the prelims but really enjoyed the main card of this. Think that may be goto routine for the forseeable.

 

[Bruce85]

I’ll admit I’ve not seen much of Kavanagh (maybe only the fight with Johnson) but that was very impressive, especially the first couple of rounds. I agree with Egg, the fight on the score cards did close up but in terms of damage Kavanagh was miles ahead. 
 

I really like Moreno but it definitely feels his time at the top has definitely come and gone now. Not sure if it’s his style, he’s lost a step, or the competition has evolved but he doesn’t look like the guy who was champ a few years ago. I can’t see him getting cut anytime soon but I can see him being used as a gate keeper role for the role 5. Shame as he seems like a really good guy too!

 

Vera also looks like his best days are long gone! I’m not sure he was ever elite and let’s be honest he only got the title shot to set O’Mally up for a favourable title defence. 
 

An enjoyable if not spectacular card but it’s certainly wet the whistle for Max v Charles at the weekend! 

[Egg Shen]

Vera's problem is and has always been he starts too slow. He drops the first two rounds in every fight.

[Kfogg1991]

I personally gave it 4/1 to kavanagh but wow he put a masterclass in there.

Chito is now on 5/6 losing streak which is so frustrating because he had the ability to go as close to the top as you can get if not actually getting the belt but his frustrating consistency of throwing the first round like he has infinite time trips him every time.

Bobby green starching the dude half his age was amazing while being bobby green and shit talking the entire time aswell he's a fucking pimp..... after-party at my strip club made me chuckle aswell.

The start of the prelims was incredible we had 4 first round finishes and the first women's fight was fucking fantastic they both tried taking each others heads off but both tougher than a 2 dollar steak.

We had a slump of decisions including business as normal women's fight that put the world to sleep.

 

But I was very happy I chose to watch it live because I just don't watch the entire card when i don't I enjoyed it a s onto the BMF this weekend 

[Egg Shen]

Oh yeah, was going to mention Bobby Green. He just won't go away will he? He rolled back the years and went full-Diaz in there, great performance.

The women's fight was the lone prelim I watched, made the right choice, really good. Regina Tarin definitely has something about her.

[wandshogun09]

OK, I got this all wrong. Fair play, Lone’er Kavanagh put in a strong performance and bagged the biggest win of his career to date when, on paper, everything was stacked against him going in. I do feel like you’ve got to factor in that Moreno doesn’t quite look like the guy who went to war with Figgy and Pantoja a few years ago. I don’t think you can watch his last few fights and truthfully claim he’s not past his prime. But he’s not completely washed either and, like I said, in theory he had almost everything in his favour in this one. Kavanagh wasn’t coming in completely cold. He was already in camp to fight on the Apex card in mid March. But it was still a big step up for him and he passed with flying colours.

On 3/2/2026 at 6:28 PM, Egg Shen said:

Hell of a performance from Kavanagh. That Charles Johnson stoppage probably made the majority sleep on him but he put an absolute beating on Moreno. 

There’s that but that wasn’t the only reason I was doubting Kavanagh. There were a lot of reasons to be sceptical that he was making the right move in taking this fight. It was his first first five rounder, against a guy who’s been in a bunch of them. It was on Moreno’s home turf. At high altitude when, because of the short notice, Kavanagh hadn’t had adequate time to prepare for that. A huge step up rankings-wise. And yeah, on top of all that he was coming off not just his first loss, but a knockout loss. I don’t know about anyone else but for me it was a combination of all the above making me question whether Kavanagh was ready for Moreno. Turned out he absolutely was. Thought he looked really good.

Rough loss for Moreno. Really not sure where he goes from here. Understandably, all the talk since Saturday has been about Kavanagh’s win and what’s next for him. But this was a really bad loss for Moreno when you consider all the things I’ve listed above that were going against Kavanagh. Moreno had all the advantages on paper, bar miles on the clock. And while I do think that played a factor here, I don’t think it was all down to that. Kavanagh looked about three times faster than Moreno in those early rounds. He might have always been a problem for him. Didn’t like how close he let it get later on in the fight and there’s definitely stuff he needs to work on but overall this was a hell of a way to bounce back from that Charles Johnson loss. His corner telling him he was 4-0 up before the last round was stupid though. For one, he wasn’t. But I feel like corners should never tell their fighter that. Even if they fully believe it.

That’s how the top of the Flyweight rankings is looking at the moment. Feels really fresh. Pretty exciting times. I do wonder if Kavanagh is ready to be mixing with that lot. He’s jumped from being ranked #15 to being at #6 with this Moreno win. Maybe he’ll do just fine but I wonder if we’ll look back on him beating a faded Moreno as a bit of a misleading win that was over flattering him slightly. But we’ll see. Like I said, exciting times ahead at 125. You can mix and match any of that lot and I think you get a high percentage of bangers out of it. It’s way too soon to be talking about him fighting the champ but watching Kavanagh lighting Moreno up with fast combos at points in this fight just made me think of some of the crazy exchanges a Joshua Van vs Kavanagh fight would give us. Whether it’s for the gold or not, with how young those two are you have to think they’re bound to fight each other at some stage over the next few years. I’d never even thought of that fight before but it’s one I definitely wanna see down the line. 

Martinez vs Chito was, yeah, frustrating. At this point it feels like we could literally just copy and paste the same post after every Chito fight. It’s the same story. Stands around doing nothing for big spells of the round/fight, loses a decision, acts like he got robbed. Rinse and repeat. And here he didn’t even bother moaning at the decision. It’s like he doesn’t even care anymore. But yeah he always leaves it too late to get going. He’s become known for it.

On 3/3/2026 at 11:54 AM, Egg Shen said:

Vera's problem is and has always been he starts too slow. He drops the first two rounds in every fight.

Yep. And not just that, even in the rounds themself he’ll often just let the first three or four minutes slip away before he finally decides to try to do something with 43 seconds left in the round or something. It’s even more amplified in three round fights like this. He’s not cut out for three rounds. He’s not tippy top level regardless but I think he’s definitely more suited to five rounds. You look back at his best wins, which were probably the Cruz and Font ones a few years ago, they were both five rounders, he stopped Cruz in the fourth and battered Font to a decision. His issues are more than just that though. He genuinely looks like he can’t be arsed at times these days. Wasn’t the most exciting showing from Martinez either, to be honest. But Chito’s lack of urgency meant Martinez didn’t have to do much and was able to basically coast to the points win. Don’t even blame him. Maybe there’ll be better to come if someone forces him into a bit of a firefight. Seemed like Chito just put every single one of his eggs in the ‘I’ll get him in the last round’ basket as usual and it didn’t happen. The annoying thing is, it’s not a new problem for Chito. He’s been like this for years. Can he not do two rounds of hitting the pads backstage or something before he walks out, to maybe trick his body into thinking the first round of the actual fight is really the third? I don’t know. Anything’s worth a try at this point.

I’m in two minds on the Green vs Zellhuber fight. I’m seeing a ton of praise for Green and it was a good performance. His best in a while. But I don’t know what to think about Zellhuber at this point either so I’m not sure how impressive this win was. Green hadn’t looked good in a while and it really felt like a fight designed for the much younger Zellhuber to get back in the win column, in front of a home crowd, against an ageing, faded veteran. Fair play to Green for denying him. But I’m starting to think maybe Zellhuber just wasn’t the prospect many thought he was. Or maybe that one FOTY banger against Ribovics at the Sphere has knocked a lot of the fight out of him? He’s fought two old dogs in Michael Johnson and King Green since that war with Ribovics and he lost both. I feel like I’m being harsh but this didn’t even look like Green at his best to me. He looked noticeably slower to me than he did at his best. Yet Zellhuber still couldn’t do anything to him and ended up getting stopped by him. Don’t mean to pour cold water on Green’s win but I’m not sure how much of this was just Zellhuber looking bad. Actually seems like he’s regressed.

Imanol Rodriguez vs Kevin Borjas was a lot of fun while it lasted. Ended up being a successful UFC debut for Rodriguez but Borjas didn’t go away quietly. He was bringing serious heat in that first round but Rodriguez showed resilience to come back with the finish himself in the second.

Good stuff. Think this was one of the fights where the betting odds were heavily one sided with Rodriguez being the big favourite. Borjas nearly made a shambles of those odds. Feel bad for Borjas. He’s clearly not quite good enough to really excel at the top level but he’s a proper scrapper, always entertaining to watch, one of those ‘kill or be killed’ types. Really enjoy watching him but it’s just not happening for him results-wise.

Really like this Santiago Luna. He’s clearly not the finished product but he’s 21 years old so he’s got time on his side. Pacheco was tough enough to go the distance but obviously out of his depth in this one. Valuable cage time for Luna though, I guess. Hopefully they don’t rush Luna too soon because he looks like he might have some legit potential.

I skimmed through the prelims. Some of it looked alright for what it was but it looked very much like a set of prelims that you could’ve completely skipped and missed pretty much nothing. Caught the Damian Pinas stoppage in the Fight Pass opener and right when I stopped skimming and pressed play the first thing I heard was Bisping go “Pinas is explosive”. Filth.

Ryan Gandra smashed Jose Medina with ease. Surely that’s it for Medina in the UFC now, right? Right? He’s gone 0-4 (although he’s 0-5 in his last five when you count DWCS), been finished in his last three and this one he got chinned in under a minute. Gotta be one of the worst signings in UFC history. And they signed him off a loss on DWCS so they can’t say they weren’t warned.

Ailin Perez fight looked boring as per usual but she keeps getting the wins because the division is too shit these days to gatekeep these jabronis. It did provide this pic though, which amused me…

The audacity to be doing that after a dull points win though. She’s at #7 in the rankings now as well so I guess we’re gonna have to come to terms with the fact she’s probably gonna end up challenging for the title at some point. That’s the state the Bantamweight division has found itself in.

The Regina Tarin vs Ernesta Kareckaite fight was the highlight of the prelims. Wasn’t a technical masterpiece or anything but it was a spirited effort from both and they had an enjoyable scrap. Worth remembering as well that Tarin stepped in on just a few days notice so this was hardly her at her best. I’ll be interested to see how she looks with a full camp next time. Typically, she’s been getting a load of shit from MMA fans about her appearance, incel dweebs saying she was ‘catfishing’ in her pics. Like they expect fighters, in the midst of a fight, to look like the same as they do posing for Instagram pics. Body shaming a 21 year old who just fought her arse off on short notice. Bunch of vermin.


Yeah didn’t love the card but it had its moments and the main event felt like a real hurdle cleared for Kavanagh getting over that first career loss with his biggest win to date. Onto Holloway vs Oliveira 2!!

Edited March 6 by wandshogun09