It appears that Deiveson
Figueiredo won’t be fighting at UFC 290
after all.
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The former flyweight champion
confirmed to MMAFighting.com’s Trocação Franca podcast that he
has not been cleared to face Manel Kape
at the July 8 event. Figueiredo’s withdrawal was initially reported
by Canal
Encarada.
“I’m still injured,” Figueiredo said. “I asked for a fight, told my
manager I wanted to fight already, but when he gave me the fight
and I talked to my physical therapist and my ophthalmologist, [they
said] my eyesight is still not 100 percent. There are days I see
things normal, but there are days it’s not OK, especially the days
after I train, so they decided I had to go the full six-month
[medical suspension] the ophthalmologist gave me [after UFC
283].”
Figueiredo is coming off a third-round doctor stoppage loss in his
tetralogy against current flyweight king Brandon
Moreno. He was initially expected to move to the bantamweight
division before revealing that he would remain at 125 pounds.
Figueiredo isn’t expected to resume full training and sparring
until the end of July.
It is currently unknown if Kape will receive a replacement opponent
at UFC 290, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Alexander
Volkanovski and Yair
Rodriguez.