UFC 245 results: Brandon Moreno puts on striking display to outduel Kai Kara-France

As the flyweight division continues to seek new contenders, Brandon Moreno made a strong statement with his showing against Kai Kara-France at UFC 245.

The former Ultimate Fighter contender looked better than ever as he blasted Kara-France with blistering combinations round after round in a performance where he seemed to get better with each passing minute. In the end, the judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27, all in Moreno’s favor.

“To be honest, I wanted to taste the power of Kai,” Moreno admitted after the decision victory.

“I tried to feel a little bit [of his power] in the [first] round but in the second and third round, I felt amazing. Now I feel on fire.”

Throughout the fight, Kara-France was setting up his combinations so that his right hand was always his finishing punch. Time and time again, the Kiwi targeted Moreno’s draw with that right hand and when he landed, the Mexican flyweight’s head would snap around.

As for Moreno, he showed fast hands with a well-timed jab as well as a lightning quick head kick that kept coming just inches away from taking Kara-France’s head off.

Moreno also made the necessary adjustments to deal with his opponent’s powerful right hand by coming after Kara-France with a ton of aggression as well as some hard shots to the body that started to pay dividends.

By going to the midsection, Moreno forced Kara-France to protect his bread-basket, which then left his head open for a number of combinations that ended with a shot to his nose. With blood leaking down the front of his face, Kara-France was then in the position where he had to seek some changes of his own but he couldn’t find a way to slow down a very active Moreno.

With less than two minutes remaining, Moreno really started to pour on the offense, walking Kara-France down and simply landing the better shots. The Auckland native refused to go away until the final horn but Moreno was just the more effective fighter after 15 minutes.

Moreno gets his first UFC win since 2017 as he seeks to climb back up the flyweight rankings where Henry Cejudo is still cemented as champion.