I need to admit this up front: I don’t fully understand Brandon Moreno. How can a guy so nice, so full of positive energy, so genuine, just completely flip a switch when he gets in the cage to compete? I had just gotten off a phone call with the UFC’s flyweight champ — who defends his belt in a highly anticipated trilogy with Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday — and that’s all I could think about.

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“Thank you brother! Have a great day!” he said as our conversation ended.

I’ve encountered countless fighters over the years and I’ll go as far as to say most are good people. But something about Moreno stood out to me like few others have.

This wasn’t a schtick. He doesn’t just turn on the charm for the media. Go check out his social media feed, filled with photos of him smiling with friends and family or showing off a completed Lego set — his other passion in life. Yes, one of the baddest men on the planet spends his free time building the set of the TV show “Friends” out of tiny plastic bricks.

But as any of his previous opponents would say, don’t let this wholesome image of Moreno fool you. Deep down there’s a killer inside, someone who brutally submitted Figueiredo by rear-naked choke to claim the title last year. Someone who was cut from the UFC in 2018 after two straight losses and rebounded to go 5-0-2 since to become the promotion’s first-ever champion from Mexico.

That moment changed his life in more ways than one.

“The benefits of being a UFC champion are amazing. New experiences, travel. But there are a lot of responsibilities with the media, travel (and) the pressure to be the first Mexican-born champion of the UFC,” he told The Athletic. “For people from other countries like the United States, like Brazil, where they have so many athletes, it’s like ‘eh, it’s another champion.’ It’s special, obviously, but it’s one more champion of the country. For Mexico? It’s like, ‘man, he’s the guy.’ So right now the pressure isn’t on my shoulders. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment.”

Moreno returned to Tijuana after the win in June to a giant welcome party with his friends, family and teammates at Entram Gym. He had a giant mural painted of his face underneath a bridge in his hometown and later hung out with boxing champion and fellow Mexican legend Canelo Alvarez.

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He said he took off one month and then got back into the gym for a training camp he describes as more grueling than any he’s had in the past. Extra work on his jiu-jitsu, wrestling and striking with an emphasis on improving his cardio and endurance.

“After the fight against Figueiredo to get the title, I was talking with myself, asking ‘what is the new goal in my life?’” he said. “And the first thing I said was ‘I don’t want to be that champion who gets the belt and just starts to go down in his career. So I decided to make an upgrade to a hard training camp for my next fight, even if in that moment I didn’t know who would be my opponent. This training camp was even harder than the last one. But I survived.”

The UFC looked into bouts with top contenders Askar Askarov and Alexandre Pantoja, though both suffered injuries and weren’t able to return at the time the promotion wanted the fight. The only option at that point was a third consecutive bout with Figueiredo.

Three fights in a row with one opponent is almost unheard of in MMA and Figueiredo definitely wasn’t Moreno’s preferred foe at this time. That said, Moreno felt he beat him the first time, clearly beat him the second and is incredibly confident heading into what he hopes is the final matchup with his Brazilian rival.

“It’s a little bit weird because I’m sick of this guy,” he said. “I don’t want to see this guy anymore. So I just want to beat Figueiredo and move the page to the next chapter. To the next opponent. The next contender.

“My strength and conditioning, my cardio, my explosivity — everything is on point right now,” he added. “And I know Deiveson Figueiredo wants to do something different. He went to other training camps. But I promise I’m prepared for his new skills.”

Moreno shot down talk of Figueiredo looking dramatically different on Saturday in Anaheim.

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“How much can he improve with just three or four months?” he asked. “It’s hard to improve your skills and abilities when you don’t have too much time. We’ll see. I’m prepared. But that question will be answered on January 22.”

(Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

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