Back in January 2022, Henry Cejudo and Brandon Moreno were practically at each other’s throats. Fast forward to UFC 323, the former friends/training partners seem to have had an unexpected reconciliation.

Moreno is set to face Tatsuro Taira on the card headlined by Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2, while Cejudo fights Payton Talbott. During the conference, Cejudo moved closer to Moreno, patted him gently on his back, and offered his hand for shaking. No show, no forced PR energy, just a plain and genuine moment between two men who had no verbal interaction for ages.

Moreno immediately smiled and shook his hand. You could almost feel the room exhale. For fans who’ve watched their relationship crumble, this was a full-circle moment.

Their feud’s origins trace back to The Ultimate Fighter 24, in which Cejudo and his mentor Eric Albarracin strongly advocated for the inclusion of Brandon Moreno in the show. Moreno was living and training with Cejudo for years, and Henry utilized his Olympic-level recognition to get him a spot after he won a rapid regional title fight that UFC Embedded filmed. But when TUF 24 started, the novel seeding format brought a major plot twist.

The fighters were pre-seeded before the coaches made their picks, which meant that when Cejudo picked the No. 1 seed, Alexandre Pantoja, Joseph Benavidez was automatically assigned the No. 16 seed, who turned out to be Moreno. That twist turned everything upside down. Moreno was suddenly obliged to fight for the competing coach, and from there, the tensions slowly built up and hit a boiling point when he helped Benavidez prepare for his winning attempt against Cejudo in the TUF 24 finale.

Moreno thought he was being ignored, Cejudo believed the matter was beyond his control, and the rapport between them was never mended after the show. The bad communication, the strange TUF rules, and the emotional aftermath all combined into the long, seven-year silence, which was finally broken at the UFC 323 press conference.

After seven long years of silence, a simple handshake and pat on the back at UFC 323 finally closed the chapter on their feud. What was once a fractured friendship is now a moment of genuine reconciliation.

Brandon Moreno reacts to Henry Cejudo’s comments, leaving the future of the rivalry uncertain

Before the UFC 323 press conference, Henry Cejudo suggested that a potential fight with Brandon Moreno could take place on Cinco de Mayo. Moreno, however, was surprised that the topic of them fighting was still being discussed.

“I saw the interview. I thought that rivalry was dead, but the guy is still thinking of me. That’s crazy,” Moreno told MMA Junkie and other media at the UFC 323 media day on Wednesday. “Right now, I’m super focused. In the past, we had our bad blood, and right now I’m just super focused on fighting in the flyweight division, get the title back.

“I don’t think he’s going to make that cut again (from bantamweight). So that’s it. I wish him all the best. I wish him all the success in his fight against Payton Talbott because Payton is an incredible opponent.”

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Back at UFC 270, Cejudo cornered Deiveson Figueiredo in his trilogy-winning bout against Moreno. The Brazilian had vowed to bring Moreno’s head to Cejudo, using the pair’s rivalry to promote his own fight.

At the time, Moreno had said of Cejudo, “I don’t have nothing to clear with him. I don’t hate the guy, I respect the guy. He said I’m a traitor, but I just want to say, when I went with Joseph Benavidez, it was for necessity. When I did that, I was alone, I didn’t have my team in Tijuana, my team in Arizona was training with other guys, and I was alone. It was a professional career [move].”

The question of whether the rivalry is completely over or not is still unanswered. The nice act during the press conference was a clue to a change in their relationship, but only the outcomes of UFC 323 and the future will tell if we will ever witness Moreno vs. Cejudo in the Octagon again.