On Saturday, Brandon Moreno, the once and perhaps future UFC flyweight champion, may become an answer to a trivia question when he steps into the Octagon in Mexico City to fight Brandon Royval ... again.
He might become known as "The King of Rematches."
Saturday's bout will be his 16th in the UFC; more than half of those will have been rematches in rematches. He's fought Deiveson Figueiredo four times; Kai Kara-France twice; current champ Alexandre Pantoja twice and the match in Mexico City with Royval will be their second. He's 9-4-2 in the UFC going into the Royval bout Saturday, so 53.3 percent of his UFC fights have been rematches. After he faces Royval Saturday, 56.3 percent of his bouts in the UFC will have been rematches.
"I feel amazing," Moreno said. "Since 2020, I've been fighting against the same guys, but at the same time, the goal is the same. Just get the victory, right?"
A win over Royval will put Moreno in a familiar place, ready for another title shot. He's lost both of his fights against Pantoja, and dropped his belt to the Brazilian on July 8 in Las Vegas at UFC 290 when he lost a heartbreaking split decision.
His last six bouts have all been title fights, so the bout against Royval will break that trend. It's another important match, though he admits he'd rather have been facing Amir Albazi. He was originally scheduled to face Albazi, but Albazi withdrew and the UFC switched to Royval.
Moreno, though, has become one of the UFC's most popular fighters because he fights the best, he has an entertaining style and he's an engaging and congenial guy.
Albazi is 17-1 overall and 5-0 in the UFC and represented an opportunity for Moreno to make a statement against a fighter who didn't necessarily know his strengths and weaknesses intimately. He'd have preferred that fight, but wasn't going to walk away from such a potentially moment.
At the end of the day, though, he's about winning, making money, collecting championships and building a legacy. His willingness to fight anyone, anywhere at any time has endeared him to the fan base and kept him prominent within the division.
"Obviously, I was excited to fight a different opponent than those I've been fighting these last couple of years and so I was happy to have a fight with Amir Albazi," he said. "But they called and told me he was out of the fight and I was kind of like, 'Damn. Again?' But like I said, at the end of the day, whoever it is, the goal is the same, getting the victory. And fortunately I had enough time to prepare myself for a different opponent and come up with a different game plan."
Moreno is No. 1 at flyweight, with Albazi No. 2 and Royval No. 3. So the winner of Saturday's bout is in a great position to meet Pantoja the next time out.
The flyweight division was nearly killed in 2017 but now ranks as among the most exciting divisions in the sport. Moreno has played a big role in the division's surge to prominence.
He hopes to be able to take advantage of the notoriety by climbing back on top one more time.
"This fight is very important to me on Saturday," Moreno said. "I have to win. I'm going to win. ... And then I'm going to raise my hand and say, 'I'm next.' "
No one who saw his two fights with Pantoja, or his three fights with Figuereido or his two fights with Kara-France could possibly complain about that.