It seemed that a fourth meeting between Deiveson
Figueiredo and Brandon
Moreno was a virtual certainty until the Brazilian flyweight
champion recently used Instagram to challenge Kai Kara
France for his next title defense.
“I was informed through international media that my next fight
would be against Moreno, but I never accepted that,” Figueiredo
told Sherdog.com. “My manager, Wallid, called me last week saying
that the UFC wanted the [Moreno] fight and I told him that, as a
champion, I should have the right to choose a challenger that
motivates me. I fought this guy three times in 13 months. There are
a lot of great talents in the division and the weight class must
move forward. Moreno lost to [Alexandre] Pantoja twice. if he beats
him, we can talk about a fourth fight, but not now.”
Figueiredo also admitted that what he claims have been racist
attacks from Moreno’s team, which he mentioned on Instagram,
motivated his decision to pursue a fight against Kara France.
“I suffered a lot of attacks on my social media after our second
fight and continue suffering [them] after our last fight [at UFC
270]. This is disgusting,” he said. “I’m not motivated to go
through that again, unless UFC agrees to pay me $1 million for a
fourth fight, as I said before. But I really dont feel motivated to
make it now.”
Figueiredo also revealed that to maintain his motivation he even
considered going up to the bantamweight division.
“A champion is motivated by new challenges,” he said. “I have to
confess that I was seriously thinking of going up and doing a
superfight and then returning to defend my belt, but Kai Kara
France’s great performance against Cody
Garbrandt and now against [Askar] Askarov motivated me to
defend my belt against him.”
Regarding his challenge to Kara France, Figueiredo even suggested
that the UFC book the fight on his opponent’s home soil. The City
Kickboxing representative hails from Auckland, New Zealand.
“I would love to fight in his house. Imagine a card with two title
bouts, me and Kara France and [Israel] Adesanya defending the
middleweight title. I have no doubt it would do great pay-per-view
numbers. Let´s make it happen, Dana.”
Figueiredo’s only request is a little time to recover prior to his
next title defense.
“I fought 13 rounds in the last 13 months. Also, the last camp was
really tough,” he said. “I´m still recovering from a couple of
injuries, and I need time to be in my peak shape again. I´ll get
married in June. September would be a perfect date to me.”
Figueiredo also revealed that he is planning to split his next camp
between Fight Ready and Chute Boxe.
“My brother will fight on April 30. My plan is travel with him to
Las Vegas and stay one month training with [Henry] Cejudo and
[Eric] Albarracin, then come to Brazil for my wedding ceremony and
finish my camp at Chute Boxe São Paulo with Charles
Oliveira and Diego Lima. It´s not decided yet, but we already
started the conversation.”
Figueiredo says he plans to move his family to Arizona by next year
to be closer to Fight Ready.
“I´m still 34, my plan is to be retired by 40 years old,” he said.
“I love Arizona. Also, the atmosphere at Fight Ready is amazing.
Moving there with my family will be the best choice for my career
and also for the future of my family.”