{"id":36964,"date":"2026-02-28T23:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Loneer-Kavanagh-upends-favored-Brandon-Moreno-in-UFC-Mexico-headliner-200284"},"modified":"2026-02-28T23:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:57:12","slug":"loneer-kavanagh-upends-favored-brandon-moreno-in-ufc-mexico-headliner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/loneer-kavanagh-upends-favored-brandon-moreno-in-ufc-mexico-headliner\/","title":{"rendered":"Lone\u2019er Kavanagh upends favored Brandon Moreno in UFC Mexico headliner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Lone\u2019er
\nKavanagh<\/a> proved he could run with the big dogs in the
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> flyweight division.<\/p>\n

Savage leg kicks, a sharp jab and bulletproof takedown defense
\ncarried the Great Britain Top Team prospect to a unanimous decision
\nover two-time champion Brandon
\nMoreno<\/a> in the
\nUFC Fight Night 268<\/a> main event on Saturday at CDMX Arena in
\nMexico City. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47\u2014all for Kavanagh
\n(10-1, 3-1 UFC), who filled in for Asu
\nAlmabayev<\/a> on late notice.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Moreno (23-10-2, 11-7-2 UFC) was outgunned on the feet and took too
\nlong to adjust. Kavanagh chewed up his lower lead leg with repeated
\nkicks, pumped out his jab and zeroed in on the body with a few
\nkicks. He had Moreno reeling with punches at one point in the
\nsecond round. The Fortis MMA mainstay turned to the clinch in the
\nthird and fourth rounds, as he bottled up Kavanagh along the fence,
\nfed him knees to the inner thigh, bled time off the clock and
\nshifted momentum. That set the stage for Round 5. Moreno continued
\nto close the distance but failed to stay busy enough to avoid
\nrestarts from referee Herb Dean<\/a>.
\nKavanagh capitalized in the exchanges and made a stronger closing
\nargument, as he delivered a front kick to the body, tripled up on
\nhis jab and landed a spinning back kick to the midsection in the
\nwaning moments.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bonebreakers MMA standout David
\nMartinez<\/a> continued his rise through the 135-pound ranks with a
\nunanimous decision over \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter Latin America\u201d
\nsemifinalist Marlon Vera<\/a>
\nin their three-round bantamweight co-headliner. Martinez (14-1, 3-0
\nUFC) swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks from all three
\nmembers of the cageside judiciary.<\/p>\n

<\/center>
\n
Vera (23-12-1, 15-11 UFC) struggled to piece together meaningful
\noffense for much of the match. Martinez frustrated \u201cChito\u201d with
\nlateral movement and quick hands, using them to dart in and out
\nwith multi-punch bursts. The former Combate Global titleholder also
\nmanaged to incorporate leg kicks, trip takedowns and a few vicious
\nleft hooks to the body. Vera did not go away without being heard.
\nHe turned up the heat in the third round, where the Ecuadorian cut
\noff the cage, found a home for his jab and slammed left hooks into
\nhis adversary\u2019s head and breadbasket. However, Martinez circled
\naway from danger and managed to withstand a late rally from one of
\nthe division\u2019s most accomplished veterans.<\/p>\n

Martinez, 27, now finds himself on a 10-fight winning streak.<\/p>\n

Further down the main card, ex-King of the Cage champion Bobby Green<\/a>
\ndismissed a befuddled Daniel
\nZellhuber<\/a> with punches in the second round of their lightweight
\nshowcase.
\nGreen (34-17-1, 15-12-1 UFC) brought it to a decisive close 4:55
\ninto Round 2, as he nailed down his first finish in well over two
\nyears<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Zellhuber (15-4, 3-4 UFC) never established a rhythm. Green kept
\nhim guessing with awkward movements, verbal taunts, stomps to the
\nlead leg and punches from odd angles. Late in the second round, the
\n39-year-old Californian wobbled Zellhuber with a crisp right hand,
\nfollowed it with a clubbing left and drove him into the fence in a
\ndazed state. Green let his fists fly until the Fight Ready rep
\nmelted. More punches followed, necessitating the stoppage.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old Zellhuber has suffered three straight setbacks.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Entram Gym product Edgar
\nChairez<\/a> eked out a hard-earned split decision over former
\nLegacy Fighting Alliance champion Felipe
\nBunes<\/a> in their three-round flyweight feature. All three judges
\nturned in 29-28 scorecards: Alex Winter for Bunes, Sal D\u2019Amato and
\nDave
\nTirelli<\/a> for Chairez.<\/p>\n

Bunes (14-9, 2-2 UFC) seized the reins in the first round, where he
\njumped to the backpack position, locked in a body triangle, used
\nthe cage for leverage and went to work with a variety of strikes,
\nincluding 12-to-6 elbows to the shoulders. Chairez (13-6, 3-2 UFC)
\nweathered the adversity and increased his output across the final
\n10 minutes despite bleeding from a cut near his right eye. He
\ndoubled up on his jab, sought a home for his left hook and
\nunleashed strategic volleys at the end of both the second and third
\nrounds. It was enough to curry favor from two of the three cageside
\narbiters.<\/p>\n

Chairez heads into his next outing on the strength of back-to-back
\nvictories.<\/p>\n

Deeper into the draw, \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter\u201d Season 33 semifinalist
\nImanol
\nRodriguez<\/a> disposed of ex-Inka Fighting Championship titleholder
\nKevin
\nBorjas<\/a> with punches in the second round of their flyweight
\nattraction.
\nRodriguez (7-0, 1-0 UFC) tagged the Peruvian\u2019s figurative toe 4:21
\ninto Round 2<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/center>
\n
Borjas (10-5, 1-4 UFC) had his chance. He floored Rodriguez twice
\nin the first round\u2014he landed a vicious left hook during a whirlwind
\nexchange and later connected with an overhand right\u2014but his
\ninability to close the deal proved costly. The tide slowly but
\nsurely turned. Rodriguez cleared the cobwebs with a successful
\ntakedown, piled up control time and integrated his
\nground-and-pound. He then stepped up his attack in the middle
\nstanza, dazed Borjas with a left hook and sent an overhand right
\ncrashing into the side of his head. The blow resulted in a
\ndelayed-reaction knockdown and set the stage for the stoppage with
\nfollow-up punches.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, 26, has finished all seven of his opponents.<\/p>\n

Finally, unbeaten Mexican prospect Santiago
\nLuna<\/a> kept his perfect professional record intact with a
\nunanimous decision over Angel
\nPacheco<\/a> in their three-round bantamweight appetizer. All three
\ncageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Luna (8-0, 2-0
\nUFC).<\/p>\n

Pacheco (7-4, 0-2 UFC) leaned heavily on his jab against a superior
\nathlete. It was not nearly enough to keep Luna at bay. The Jason
\nParillo prot\u00e9g\u00e9 called upon repeated takedowns, occasional leg
\nkicks, close-range knee strikes and accurate, high-volume punching
\ncombinations. Luna hammered his counterpart with three, four and
\nfive punches at a time, controlled the center of the cage and
\nstruck for takedowns in all three rounds. A finish against the
\ndurable Pacheco was never in play. Luna stayed true to his
\napproach, connected with crisp counters and incorporated his own
\njab with varying degrees of success.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old Pacheco has lost three fights in a row.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u00bb<\/strong>
\nUFC Mexico Prelims: Javier Reyes, Francis Marshall, Damian Pinas
\nNet Finishes South of the Border<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lone\u2019er Kavanagh proved he could run with the big dogs in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division. Savage leg kicks, a sharp jab and bulletproof takedown defense carried the Great Britain Top Team prospect to a unanimous decision over two-time champion Brandon Moreno in the UFC Fight Night 268 main event on Saturday at CDMX […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}