Perpetually upbeat Brandon Moreno – lowest seed on 'TUF 24' – discusses his 2-0 UFC start

LAS VEGAS – Brandon Moreno suffered some lows in 2016, but he finished the year strong and now has a very promising UFC future heading into 2017.

Moreno (13-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) put a bow on the current year after scoring a split-decision victory over fellow flyweight Ryan Benoit (9-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, which aired on FS1 from The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Moreno, an honorable mention in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, was wobbled multiple times and dropped in the second round of the main-card opener, but he hung on to pick up the decision victory via 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 scores.

After the bout, the 22-year-old Mexican fighter was all smiles as he recapped his emergence on MMA’s biggest stage and his most recent victory.

“I was surprised with Ryan Benoit because he’s really durable,” Moreno said. “I punched his face really, really hard. He stayed in front of me and traded some punches with me. He’s so durable. He’s so strong. But thank God – I have the victory right now.”

It’s not his only one this year, though. Moreno was one of 16 regional-show champs who appeared on “TUF 24,” where the tournament winner got a shot at flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson on Saturday. Moreno, though, was the lowly No. 16 seed in the 16-man tournament, and he was quickly eliminated by No. 1 seed Alexandre Pantoja in the season’s first episode.

That could’ve signaled a quick end to Moreno’s current UFC run. However, before “TUF 24” had even finished airing, Moreno got an opportunity to fill in for injured Sergio Pettis, and he made the most of it after scoring an upset win over 5-1 favorite Louis Smolka in October. Now with a win over another tough vet in Benoit, Moreno is suddenly a proven – and rather upbeat – addition to the UFC flyweight ranks.

“Next year, I want to fight three or four times before the end of the year and put my name in the (division’s) big plans,” he said. “I want (to be) top 10.”

Check out the full conversation with the perpetually pleasant prospect, who now owns an overall 10-fight winning streak, above.

And for more on The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.