Brandon Moreno recently reflected on his loss against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 323 and shared his thoughts on the referee’s stoppage.

Moreno went up against Taira in a flyweight fight last weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While many expected Moreno to push Taira to his limits, the Japanese fighter managed to secure a second-round knockout victory over the former champion. This marked the first stoppage loss in Moreno’s career.

After securing a takedown, Taira scrambled to take Moreno’s back and locked the Mexican fighter in a body triangle. Taira then proceeded to land a flurry of heavy, unanswered shots on Moreno, forcing the referee to step in and stop the contest. In the aftermath, many criticized the referee for jumping in too early, citing Moreno’s durability in the cage over the years.

In a recent Instagram video (translated from Spanish), Moreno addressed his loss and shared his take on the stoppage. He said:

“Hey, guys, how are you? Just here to tell you guys that I’m OK, and that everything is excellent. I didn’t post anything yesterday because it was my birthday, and I wanted to have a good time and spend time with my family and my daughters playing Mario Kart. I just wanted to tell you guys that I’m OK.”

He added:

“Reflecting on the fight, who knows, but me personally, I think that the referee stopped the fight too soon. But maybe I’d just be there taking extra punishment, or maybe I would’ve escaped and pulled off the comeback. You never know. It was a really strange fight.” [H/t: MMA Junkie]

Brandon Moreno recalls the time he came “close to retiring” due to stress

Before his UFC 323 outing, Brandon Moreno emotionally recalled almost hanging his gloves up and calling it a career due to stress. The former UFC flyweight champion opened up about wanting to spend more time with his family and blamed mental and physical responsibilities for his stress.

In a pre-fight interview with MMA Fighting, Moreno said:

“Sometimes, it’s just crazy how life works. I was this close to retiring. I felt so stressed, I feel mentally and physically tired of all the responsibilities. The people sometimes don’t realize… I was the champion in a super important country like Mexico. It was a really huge responsibility.”

He added:

“I was super stressed and tired, and I just needed a little time off. Just a little bit, just a few months to spend time with my family, out of the gym to be with my daughters, to be with my wife, to spend time together and start to miss those moments in the gym.” [H/t: MMA Fighting]