While Deiveson
Figueiredo did not want to make any excuses, he nearly pulled
out of his recent headliner due to a serious infection.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight king
Figueiredo revealed to Sherdog on Monday that he had sustained a
cut during training that almost forced him out of his match with
Cory
Sandhagen. The Brazilian vows that had he been at full health
and had he followed his gameplan more closely, he would have ended
up getting his hand raised. Instead, Figueiredo injured his knee
while fending off a leglock.
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“Three weeks before the fight I got a jaw displacement after
getting hit by a straight punch in sparring,” Figueiredo explained.
“Because of that, I had to stay away from striking sparring until
last Tuesday. In one of my last grappling sparring [sessions], I
got scratched on my leg and the cut got infected, so I had to take
antibiotics. On the Monday of fight week, I woke up with a fever
and asked my manager to cancel the fight. But [remembering] it was
a main event, I reconsidered, and decided to fight in respect with
UFC and my fans, even not being in my best condition.”
Figueiredo recognized his mistake, trying to fight Sandhagen in
50-50 grappling position against a fighter who trains with heel
hook master and ex-UFC fighter Ryan Hall. He
suggested that it was not the damage he had sustained from
ground-and-pound that led to his undoing, but rather his own choice
to pursue the submission.
“It was a wrong decision,” he said matter-of-factly. “I felt
Cody[‘s power, and they were] not hard punches. If I follow the
original strategy, the fight certainly could have gone
differently.”
Despite seeming bad on fight night, “Daico” believes that his
injury is not as substantial as it seems.
“The knee popped, and at the moment I thought it could be something
serious,” the Brazilian remarked. “It’s swollen, but I was able to
walk during my long trip to Brazil. I’m going to make sure with the
doctor this week, but I don’t think it will be something serious
that requires surgery.”
Assuming he will be able to get back to training sooner than later,
Figueiredo already has designs on fighting again this year—and
possibly even more than once.
“I want to fight at least twice more this year. I hope UFC
recognizes the effort I made, fighting out of my best condition to
keep their main event,” said Figueiredo.
The former champ even has a name in mind for when he gets back to
the cage.
“Yadong
Song would make total sense. He also lost to Petr Yan and
Sandhagen. We are number five and six in the rankings. I have no
doubt we can make a hell of a fight,” he concluded.