Not only did Deiveson
Figueiredo make the shortest turnaround in UFC history for a
title defense on Saturday night, he did so while under the
weather.
Figueiredo retained his 125-pound belt after battling Brandon
Moreno to a majority draw in the UFC 256 headliner at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Figueiredo did not attend the
post-fight press conference after being transported to a local
hospital after the bout, but he did reveal some interesting
information in a brief post-fight interview with UFC commentator
Joe Rogan.
“I had something happen to me yesterday. I had an infection in my
stomach,” Figueiredo said through a translator. “I was in the
hospital until 2 a.m. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to
perform. Hopefully I did a good job. I came in here and I put my
blood, sweat and tears into this.”
It wasn’t necessarily evident in the champion’s performance. Though
he didn’t get the victory, the bout was hailed as perhaps the
greatest fight in UFC flyweight history in the immediate aftermath.
Figueiredo might have emerged victorious had he not been deducted a
point for an inadvertent low blow in Round 3, but “Daico” had no
quarrel with referee Jason Herzog’s ruling.
“The referee did his job. I threw an eye poke on accident, I threw
a low kick on accident. He did his job. It’s not my place to say
that [it was wrong],” Figueiredo said. “I was able to go in there
and put on a good fight. My fans are used to seeing a knockout in
the first round. But I fought all five rounds, and I think it was a
good performance.”
After such a competitive fight with no true closure, it seems that
a rematch between Figueiredo and Moreno will be inevitable. That
may be the case, but after two fights in three weeks, the champion
will look to spend some time recovering befor returning to the
Octagon.
“If they want to put him in front of me next fight, I’m open for
that,” Figueiredo said. “I want to tell Dana and everytone that I’m
always open for everything. I made weight in 20 days. I was able to
come back here. Maybe with a full training camp I’ll be able to
neutralize his game, but right now I need to go back and spend some
time with my family and relax for a bit.”