UFC Rio has come and gone, and a former champion is looking to get back into title contention.
In the co-headliner of UFC Rio, Deiveson Figueiredo collided with Montel Jackson at Farmasi Arena last Saturday. Figueiredo entered the fight on a two-fight skid and knew he needed a win to stay relevant in the bantamweight division. The fight went the distance and “Figgy” got the split-decision victory.
Figueiredo appeared on ESPN+’s post-fight show and he expressed his desire to take part in a potential No. 1 fight before 2025 ends (via Inappropriate).
“(I will fight) whenever UFC wants me to fight,” Figueiredo said. “Maybe at the end of the year. If the UFC wants it, it might give me a great opportunity to fight for the title.”
Figueiredo admitted that Jackson had made things harder for him with his struggling defense than he expected.
“It was kind of surprising how well he was able to defend my takedown attempts and stuff,” Figueiredo said. “But we trained very hard. … He landed and landed a punch at the end of the first round, but nothing else. I was able to put up a good fight.”
A former two-time UFC flyweight champion, Figueiredo found early success as he moved up to the 135-pound division. He rode a three-fight winning streak at bantamweight with victories over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon “Chito” Vera. Losses to Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen set Figueiredo back a bit, but he hopes the win over Jackson puts him one step closer to another title fight.
Current bantamweight titleholder Merab Dvalishvili is looking forward to a rematch with Yan. Umar Nurmagomedov and Mario Bautista are set to clash in a potential title eliminator. That could leave Figueiredo needing at least one more win before he can get a No. 1 contender.
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