The Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight king
expects his countrymen and women to reign supreme in 2023.
Preparing for his record fourth straight match against one single
opponent, Deiveson
Figueiredo (21-2-1) is nearly ready to take on Brandon
Moreno (20-6-2) once more. The two flyweight titleholders –
Moreno claimed the interim strap against Kai Kara
France last July – will unify their belts in the co-main event
of UFC
283 on Jan. 21. Ahead of this historic battle, “Daico” revealed
to Sherdog in an interview on Thursday that he has made some
changes in his preparation. Most notably for the champion is that
he went home.
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“I tried to adapt in Chute Boxe with my family, but it was too cold
during the winter time in Sao Paulo and they didn’t get adapted, so
I decided to return home [to Para],” Figueiredo admitted.
But even being far from Sao Paulo, Brazil, or his previous camp of
Fight Ready in Phoenix, Figueiredo guaranteed that the excellent
connections he made with both ex-champ Henry
Cejudo and coach Diego Lima will never be lost. Both proved are
essential to this camp, even from a distance.
“I always talk with both of them,” Figueiredo explained. “Charles
[Oliveira] and [coach] Diego [Lima] will be with me in Rio.
Cejudo sent [Guillermo]
Torres to help me out with my wrestling skills here in
Para.”
While a few athletes have matched up against one another four times
or more in the history of the sport, none had ever met for the
tetralogy all in the same organization. The two men are 1-1-1
against one another, and Figueiredo believes he has changed enough
to make this unusual occurrence different from the three that
preceded it.
“It will be our fourth fight, but the fans can expect a whole
different one,” the champ boasted. “I feel Moreno is training
karate, but I also have some surprises for him in this fight. I
have much more weapons than him and will do a totally different
game.”
The first three fights took place in Las Vegas, Phoenix and
Anaheim, California, with no match being quite a home game for the
two competitors. This fourth contest will be held in Rio de
Janeiro, in the home nation of the defending champion. “Daico”
expects that the raucous crowd in the Jeunesse Arena will give both
he and countryman Glover
Teixeira an advantage. If everything plays out as he believes,
Brazil will soon celebrate five UFC titles across the flyweight,
middleweight, light heavyweight, women’s bantamweight and women’s
featherweight divisions.
“I fought him like I was in Mexico, once the amount of Mexicans in
the USA are really big, now it’s my time to have the unique energy
of Brazilians cheering pushing me and Glover. We will rule Rio, and
[I] guarantee the record of belts Brazil ever had in UFC [five], by
the end of UFC 283.”
Having prepared for a Mexican adversary for so long, Figueiredo
admitted that he was curious about his foe’s home country. His
wrestling coach hails from Mexico, and coach Cejudo flies its flag
sometimes, so he plans on traveling there after the fateful
battle.
“I always had a dream to know Mexico,” Figueiredo said wistfully.
“My wrestling coach, sent by Cejudo, is also Mexican, and I’m
planning to finally go there after this fourth fight with
Moreno.”
Cejudo’s recent activity, however, might cause a change in
Figueiredo’s plans. Initially, the flyweight champion expected that
he would move up to bantamweight, so as to alleviate the tough
weight cut to 125 pounds. With new expectations that his coach,
Cejudo, will return to the UFC’s bantamweight division, the
35-year-old thinks he might stick around at flyweight a while
longer.
“That’s my weight division, and after winning [against] Moreno, I
must give the revenge to Alexandre
[Pantoja]. Cejudo will take very good care of the bantamweight
[title] that he never lost. He will knock out Aljamain
[Sterling] and get it back,” the champ concluded.