What martial arts does Brandon Moreno use in the UFC?

Mexican MMA fighter Brandon Moreno may look like a nerd who enjoys playing video games and lego but in reality, he’s an elite level fighter. Back in 2021, Moreno became the UFC Flyweight champion by defeating Deiveson Figueiredo to become the first ever Mexican to win a UFC title.

This naturally led to a lot of media attention and rightly so. As a result, lots of viewers and fans have wondered about Brandon Moreno’s fighting style. Read on for more information.

Brandon Moreno is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt

2021 was a great year for Moreno. He didn’t just win the UFC title, he also became a BJJ black belt. This was after 15 years of training in the art which he had started back in his early teenage years. He was given his black belt by Raul Arvizu in Tijuana where he trains.

Since early on in his MMA career, Moreno has proven to be a bit of a submission expert. In his first three fights, Moreno won by two armbars and one triangle. However, it’s not just in lesser fighting promotions whereby Moreno has excelled on the ground, he also won the belt by catching Figueiredo with a rear naked choke.

In fact, 11 of his wins have come from submissions, which represents over half of his finishes. Generally in MMA, this is quite a rarity but is typically more common in the lower weight levels. Defensively, he’s equally as skilled, using his grappling prowess to escape multiple leg lock attacks by Brandon Royval and a back take from Jussier Formiga. With this said, it’s fair to say that Brandon Moreno is primarily a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist.

Brandon Moreno knows kickboxing

These days, you can’t become a UFC champion without being well rounded. Thankfully for Moreno, he’s still very effective on his feet and knows how to strike his opponents as well. For instance, against Dustin Ortiz, he struck him with a nasty roundhouse kick to the head. This downed Ortiz and seconds later led to a victory. In fact, the same thing happened against Askar Askarov. Here, Moreno managed to put him to the canvas with yet another roundhouse to the head. In short, Moreno is a pretty good kickboxer.

Aside from kicks, Moreno also has some pretty strong fists and has scored a few knockout victories in his time. Typically, his boxing is pretty loose and looks very relaxed. He usually throws in a few uppercuts and mixes things up with kicks to keep his opponents second guessing. Being a Mexican, he is also a fan of Canelo Alvarez. They have even trained together and Alvarez showed him how to uppercut the body.

It should also be mentioned that Brandon Moreno has also trained Muay Thai as well. Although his striking style is closer to kickboxing compared to Muay Thai, he still occasionally throws elbows which is yet again a testament to his diverse style.

Brandon Moreno knows wrestling

It goes without saying that if you do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, then it’s probably best to get good at wrestling to. Simply put, without wrestling – you can’t get to the floor unless you pull guard. Obviously, pulling guard in an MMA fight is highly risky and puts you in a bottom position, so it’s important for Moreno to be able to wrestle.

Thankfully for Moreno, he can wrestle and has shown this on multiple occasions. Against Ryan Benoit, Moreno successfully hit a blast double leg takedown and even did the same against Deiveson Figueiredo and Sergio Pettis. Of course, being able to takedown these fighters is not easy and shows how good Moreno’s stand up grappling is as well.

Another positive in Moreno’s game is his infamous, iron jaw. Although this is probably a genetic blessing rather than an acquired skill, Moreno has taken some pretty hard shots to his chin. This sometimes happens whilst boxing, or when he shoots takedowns from an offensive wrestling stance. Either way, it definitely doesn’t hurt and means countering his wrestling with punches becomes much harder than against a regular person.

Often, the game plan of Moreno is to down his opponent, either by strikes or by taking them down. From there, he usually aims for submissions and often knows how to get to the back by scrambling and passing the guard.

Summary

Overall, it’s fair to say that Brandon Moreno is a pretty versatile mixed martial artist. Despite standing at 5’5 feet, he is as vicious as they come and the nickname Baby Assassin isn’t for nothing. Typically, he tries to finish opponents by using BJJ but isn’t afraid to strike his opponent either.

In conclusion, Brandon Moreno is well worthy of his UFC title, and not only is he a skilled fighter but he’s also highly entertaining from a spectator’s point of view as well. With this said, if you ever get the pleasure to watch a Moreno fight, you’ll definitely be in for a treat.