Deiveson Figueiredo of Brazil celebrates after defeating Joseph Benavidez in their UFC flyweight championship bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on July 19, 2020 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Deiveson Figueiredo defends his UFC Flyweight title against Alex Perez but Demetrious Johnson is a name he wants to surpass
UFC 255 sees Deiveson Figueiredo take on Alex Perez as the Brazilian defends his title for the first time.
Figueiredo defeated Joseph Benavidez in his last outing and won the vacant title. However, he also beat Benavidez before that but couldn’t win the title as he missed weight. The 32-year-old was with Wallid Ismail, who was the translator for the God of War, and they were asked about Demetrious Johnson.
Mighty Mouse is currently fighting for ONE but is considered as one of the greatest MMA athletes of all-time.
He had 11 consecutive title defences, which is a record in the Flyweight division and the UFC. However, Figueiredo had other plans, with the Schmo bringing up Johnson and their plans to surpass him:
“He focus his defence for five times and then make a super fight on the sixth one. This is his focus right now but he want to give a show and bring back the excitement for the Flyweight category.”
The Schmo claimed a Bantamweight clash could be in the offering after the fifth title defence, and it will be interesting to see if this takes place.
Ismail added that Johnson is a legend too, and Mighty Mouse is now the champion at ONE.
Figueiredo was also asked who was the tougher opponent to face between Perez and Cody Garbrandt. Garbrandt had spoken about wanting to take on Figueiredo and cut a lot of weight to make the division.
Figueiredo claimed that Garbrandt was the tougher opponent and suggested that he would easily beat Perez:
“For sure, Cody is a tougher opponent. What he really believes, he keeps saying that. Alex Perez is much easier because the Alex Perez game is wonderful for his [Figueiredo] game.
“He keeps saying, I am going to knockout him because I can see I knockout or submit Alex Perez tomorrow, he keeps saying that.”
Figueiredo also added, via Ismail, that he was keen to fight Garbrandt and wanted the battle to take place after he is done with Perez.
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