UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo retained his title with a thrilling majority-draw decision against Brandon Moreno in the main event of UFC 256 in Las Vegas.
Brazil's Figueiredo, 32, and Mexico's Moreno, 27, engaged in a wild, back-and-forth battle as the two 125lb fighters fought all the way to the judges' scorecards after five breathless rounds at the UFC Apex.
Figueiredo was bidding to complete his second title defence in the space of 21 days after his first-round finish of Alex Perez at UFC 255 in November.
But despite loading up with heavy-handed strikes throughout the bout, he was unable to trouble the iron chin of the challenger, who continued to fire back with shots of his own, and appeared to hold the advantage in the wrestling exchanges through the contest.
After two all-action rounds, a thumping kick to the groin by Figueiredo left Moreno down on the canvas for two minutes, with referee Jason Herzog penalising the champion with a point-deduction.
That sanction ultimately prevented Figueiredo from claiming the outright victory on the scorecards, with one judge scoring the fight 48-46 to Figueiredo, while the other two judges tendering 47-47 scores to confirm the result as a majority draw.
Figueiredo's title defence capped off a remarkable year for the former bricklayer and motorcycle taxi rider, who captured the UFC's 125lb title with a first-round submission of Joseph Benavidez in July, then made the first defence of his title with another first-round submission, against Perez, last month.
Remarkably, after that victory at UFC 255, UFC president Dana White declared that the promotion would keep Figueiredo in Las Vegas so he could complete a three-week turnaround and face Moreno in the main event at UFC 256.
It meant Figueiredo broke the UFC record for the shortest gap between title defences, lowering the previous mark of 56 days to just 21, and while the fight may not have produced a decisive result, the match-up was hailed online as one of the best fights of 2020, while White told the fighters immediately after the bout that it was the best flyweight fight in UFC history.