Despite the flyweight division’s future being up in the air, match-ups between top contenders continue to be made.
The next of the pairings is a match-up between top Brazilians in the No. 1 and No. 4 ranked contenders, as Combate reports that Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (22-5) is set to take on the unbeaten Deiveson Figueiredo (15-0) at UFC Nashville. That event is to take place on March 23, airing on ESPN+.
For Formiga, it has been quite a wild ride for him to get to the top of the UFC contenders list since he was once considered the very best flyweight in the world as the Tachi Palace Fights champion.
After losing that label to Ian McCall in 2011, which was also the first loss of his career, Formiga would win five in a row with four of those coming via submission. By that point, the UFC had created their own 125-pound division and Formiga got the call-up.
Now holding an 8-4 record within the organization, Jussier Formiga’s best run thus far in the UFC has been his most recent which has seen him earn dominate victories over Sergio Pettis, Ben Nguyen, and Ulka Susaki.
On the other side, however, we have Deiveson Figueiredo who has been literally perfect throughout his career to this point.
A finisher through and through at 125-pounds, Figueiredo proves to be a rare and special fighter in the weight class. Only two decisions out of 15 fights (eight KO/TKOs, five submissions) isn’t something we see every day in the men’s smallest division.
Figueiredo’s last win came at UFC Lincoln in August which was his biggest to date when he TKO’d former title challenger John Moraga in the second round. Thus halting Moraga’s own impressive winning streak of three.
UFC Nashville continues to be built as this fight acts as the third bout added so far, behind the likes of Stephen Thompson vs Anthony Pettis and Curtis Blaydes vs Justin Willis.
