WATCH: Brandon Moreno lands a knee and taps out pro wrestler at Lucha Libre's Triplemania a week after broken hand
Former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno made an appearance at the ongoing Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) professional wrestling extravaganza just a week after his thrilling five-round MMA bout. Moreno's most recent octagon appearance witnessed him put the UFC flyweight title at stake against longtime rival Alexandre Pantoja.
Their fight served as the co-headliner for the UFC 290 event on July 8, 2023, and saw Moreno lose the closely-contested affair via split decision. The loss resulted in Mexico's Moreno dropping the UFC flyweight title to Brazil's Pantoja. It also marked Moreno's third defeat against Pantoja.
The latter defeated Moreno once in an exhibition MMA bout on the UFC's TUF reality show and has now bested him twice in professional MMA bouts. Additionally, Moreno suffered a broken hand at UFC 290. Despite his title fight loss against Pantoja and his hand injury, Moreno appeared at the Mexican professional wrestling organization AAA's Triplemania 31 event.
The three-day event had been booked to take place on April 16, July 15, and August 12, 2023, respectively. On that note, Moreno featured on the second scheduled date (July 15th) of the three-day event.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Moreno had been roped in to appear at AAA's biggest annual event, Triplemania. His manager confirmed the same. Staying true to his word, 'The Assassin Baby' did appear at Triplemania 31 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on Saturday (July 15, 2023).
Moreno, who's dealing with a hand injury, partook in a pre-determined professional wrestling confrontation with AAA wrestler Daga (real name: Miguel Angel Olivo Castro). Daga shoved and slapped Moreno, while the UFC fighter responded by hitting the wrestler with a spinning back kick.
'The Assassin Baby' then landed a knee on Daga and forced him to tap out with an armbar. Moreno's armbar was broken up by another wrestler who kicked him, causing him to separate from Daga and roll out of the ring.
Check out Moreno's segment at AAA Triplemania 31 in the video below:
Brandon Moreno is a natural at lucha apparently. Broken hand and a week after the Fight of the Year too #TriplemaniaXXXI https://t.co/nDSodLMOhr
What's next for former UFC champion Brandon Moreno?
As noted, the defeat at UFC 290 was the third time Brandon Moreno came up short against Alexandre Pantoja. Two of those three losses came in professional MMA matchups.
Considering the aforementioned variables at play, certain sections of the MMA community have argued that the UFC shouldn't book Brandon Moreno to fight Alexandre Pantoja again right away. Presently, neither athlete's next fight has been officially announced.
Regardless, UFC president Dana White indicated that the organization could get Brandon Moreno to face Alexandre Pantoja in another fight next. As reported by TSN's Aaron Bronsteter, White expressed interest in booking the Moreno-Pantoja fight again, primarily owing to how exciting their UFC 290 showdown was. During the UFC 290 post-fight press conference, White stated:
"I don't think there's anyone on earth who wouldn't want to see that fight again. It was so good and so close."
White on potential Pantoja/Moreno rematch: "I don't think there's anyone on earth who wouldn't want to see that fight again. It was so good and so close."