Brandon Moreno and Lone’er Kavanagh are set to face off this Saturday night, but it won’t be the first time their paths have crossed.
Kavanagh was brought in as a late replacement after Asu Almabayev pulled out of their February 28 bout.
This is a big moment for the flyweight prospect, not just because of the step up in competition, but also because he has to deal with Mexico City’s altitude on short notice.
Kavanagh isn’t ranked inside the top 15 yet, but his rapid rise through the sport has been hard to miss. One social media post even caught the eye of his upcoming opponent.
Brandon Moreno was in the crowd for a Lone’er Kavanagh fight four years before they shared the octagon
Cage Warriors highlighted an early connection between Brandon Moreno and Lone’er Kavanagh ahead of their meeting at UFC Mexico City, sharing that the pair had crossed paths several years ago.
Before his rise, Kavanagh went 4-0 with Cage Warriors, eventually earning a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024.
A post from Will_Casuals on X pointed out that Moreno was actually in attendance for Kavanagh’s promotional debut back in 2022.
The Assassin Baby was at Cage Warriors 134 inside Indigo at the O2 in London just two months after he lost his flyweight title to Deiveson Figueiredo.
Kavanagh, meanwhile, was opening the card with just his third professional fight. He stopped Ryan Morgan in the first round, marking the start of a run that quickly got him noticed by bigger promotions.
Moreno responded to the post by commenting: “Wow, life is crazy.”
Lone’er Kavanagh now has the opportunity to do something Brandon Moreno did
Moreno had already faced setbacks earlier in his career, but one of the key moments was when he was eliminated from The Ultimate Fighter by Alexandre Pantoja.
Sergio Pettis then withdrew from a planned fight against Louis Smolka, and Moreno stepped in while TUF was still airing. He took full advantage, submitting Smolka in the first round to make an early statement at flyweight.
Kavanagh, meanwhile, is coming off his first professional loss. But a win over Moreno would immediately push him toward the top of the division.
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