Deiveson Figueiredo likes his chances at UFC 324. | Getty/UFC
Deiveson Figueiredo is an unknown position heading into his fight with Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 324.According to Stake.com odds on Monday, the Dagestani, who has suffered just one loss in his 20 MMA fights, was considered a 10-to-1 favorite. In an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Figueiredo said this fact only increases his motivation.
“Everyone knows he can wrestle well, but he will face another opponent, a former champion, and one punch from me can change everything,” Figueiredo said. “If anything, fighting against favorites only increases my motivation.”The former flyweight champion is confident after holding his training camp again at Pitbul Brothers.
“The camp here at Pitbull Brothers was perfect,” he said. “The resources here are excellent. Sparring partners such as Leandro Higo from [PFL] just made me push myself every day, and thank goodness we made it to the end of camp without any injuries. You can be sure I will put up a great fight. My goal is to win via knockout or submission.”
Aggression is key
As for the wrestling game characteristics of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev’s team, Deiveson guarantees that he is willing to frustrate Umar, and that his aggression will be a key point of his advantage.”I have a lot more fights than him. I will be aggressive, blocking takedowns and throwing hard punches. We know that when we block his takedowns, he gets frustrated, just like other Russian fighters,” Figueiredo said.
The Brazilian veteran makes it clear that even if he is eliminated, he has prepared surprises for Nurmagomedov.
“If he takes me down, I’m going to have to work a lot on my offensive scramble game,” Figueiredo said. “My jiu-jitsu is very sharp for this fight.”
If he beats Nurmagomedov, Figueiredo plans to seek a rematch with Petr Yan, the current UFC 135-pound champion.
“Merab [Dvalishvili] didn’t have his best day, but I give all the credit to Yan for taking the title,” said Figueiredo. “In this rematch I will finally have a camp completely focused on him, so the fight would be completely different.”
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