A former beltholder wants to take advantage of the historically
quicker path of fighting for another
Ultimate Fighting Championship crown.
Riding a two-fight win streak in his new division of bantamweight,
former flyweight champion Deiveson
Figueiredo plans on fighting for a title sooner than later. On
the main card of
UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday, Figueiredo (23-3-1) will come to
blows with Marlon Vera
(23-9-1) in a high-stakes 135-pound affair. The two will tangle
inside of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Speaking with Sherdog on fight week, Figueiredo discussed his plans
to beat the top-ranked Vera and what could come after.
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“I totally left my comfort zone in this camp,” the Brazilian
explained. “I spent almost three months in Natal doing my camp with
Patricio
[Freire] and Patricky
[Freire] ‘Pitbull,’ who helped me build my strategy for this
fight and also improving my kickboxing skills to surprise ‘Chito.’
He has never been knocked out before, as well as [Cody]
Garbrandt had never been submitted. Making history, doing
something unprecedented, just motivates me.”
A knockout over name like the Ecuadorian is sure to impresses the
masses and the UFC brass, and Figueiredo hopes that kind of win
would propel him into a championship fight.
“‘Chito’ is coming from a five-round title fight against the
champion, where he lost via decision. I’m a former champion, if I
get a win in an impressive way, I’m sure the UFC will give me the
title shot,” Figueiredo opined.
In preparation for this fight, Figueiredo—who has competed in Abu
Dhabi once back in 2020—made sure to get acclimated to the time and
locale early. The man known as “Daico” flew in 15 days before the
bout, hoping to remove one variable from the equation.
“I know how hard it is to get adapted both to local time zone and
temperature so I decided to get here two weeks before. That fight
is really important to my career, and I’m doing the best I can to
get the win and finally get the chance to [fight for] my second UFC
belt,” Figueiredo concluded.