UFC flyweight contender Cody Garbrandt called Brandon Moreno “a lamb being led to the slaughterhouse” against Deiveson Figueiredo.

Garbrandt was actually supposed to be the one who fought Figueiredo at UFC 255 for the UFC flyweight title, but he injured his arm and then got sick with COVID-19. Instead, Figueiredo fought Alex Perez and he finished the challenger in the first round of their main event title fight in November. On the undercard of the same event, Brandon Moreno finished Brandon Royval and earned the next title shot against Figueiredo. The two will now clash in the main event of UFC 256 next weekend in Las Vegas.

The odds for the next flyweight title fight were released with Figueiredo opening as a -275 betting favorite and Moreno opening as a +235 betting underdog. If you ask Garbrandt, though, the odds should be much steep in favor of the champion. Speaking to ESPN, Garbrandt said that he fully expects Figueiredo to make easy work of Moreno. In fact, he’s so confident that he’s already targeting a fight against the champ in March.

“I feel like (Figueiredo) is gonna run over that kid. That’s another lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, and that’s fine. Let him build up that hype, that ‘Holy sh*t, this kid is the real deal.’ There will be no backing down from me. I’m excited for this fight,” Garbrandt said.

For Garbrandt, losing the opportunity to fight Figueiredo for the belt in November was disappointing, but right now the most important thing is for him to get healthy. Garbrandt has admitted that COVID-19 hit him particularly hard and he’s had trouble shaking the symptoms. But the hope is that he feels 100 percent in the next few weeks and can get back to training in time to meet Figueiredo next March.

Do you agree with Cody Garbrandt that Deiveson Figueiredo will beat Brandon Moreno?