Las Vegas, NV — Deiveson Figueiredo successfully defended his flyweight title for the first time at UFC 255, executing a slick guillotine submission against Alex Perez. It won’t be long until his second title defense.
After the bout, Figueiredo told media outlets including Cageside Press that he was “very happy. I proved to everybody, if you guys remember, [I said] ‘I’m going to submit him in the first round.’ And I did again. I promise something, and I do it.'”
Figueiredo recalled that he’d made similar promises surrounding his pair of fights with Joseph Benavidez, calling a knockout in the first bout and a submission in the second. Both predictions proved accurate. If Conor McGregor is “Mystic Mac” perhaps Figueiredo is “Fortune Teller Figgy.”
Okay, maybe not. But the UFC flyweight champion’s future is clear: immediately following the event, UFC President Dana White revealed that he’d be keeping the Brazilian in Vegas, booking a quick turnaround against Brandon Moreno, who also won on the UFC 255 card. ESPN later confirmed the date — December 12’s UFC 256.
One big question will be weight. Three weeks to make another grueling weight cut won’t be fun. But as the champion pointed out, “we’re in the same spot. It’s a war for both sides. If I have pressure, he’s going to have pressure.”
As for a prediction for the Moreno fight, “I think I’m going to destroy him,” said Figueiredo, adding that he believes he’s “going to break” his new challenger.
Part of that prediction appears to be based on some bad blood between the two. “Brandon Moreno talked a lot of bad things” about him, the champ said via manager/translator Walid Ismail. Which means there’s a “personal problem with Brandon Moreno” leading him to believe that he’ll destroy the Mexican fighter.
Bad blood, a quick turnaround, and a champion who could become the most dominant lighter weight fighter in years. All good reasons to tune in for Figueiredo’s return at UFC 256.
Watch the full UFC 255 post-fight press conference with Deiveson Figueiredo above.
