UFC News: Deiveson Figueiredo Is Not Eligible to Win Flyweight Title Against Joseph Benavidez

Deiveson Figueiredo has missed weight ahead of his scheduled bout with Joseph Benavidez. As per the rules, only Benavidez can win the title.

After Henry Cejudo vacated the flyweight title last year, the division is left without a champion. Although the flyweight division was about to be scrapped off from the UFC, for some reason they decided to keep it.

The UFC decided to book Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight at UFC Fight Night 169. The match goes down this Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Going into the fight, Benavidez is on a three-fight win streak. Whereas, Figueiredo is on a 2 fight win streak.

Deiveson Figueiredo misses weight

The weigh-ins for the fight took place a few hours ago. Although Figueiredo was the last fighter to step on the scale, he still missed the weight by 2.5 lbs.

Figueiredo was granted an additional hour to cut the extra weight but he did not utilise it. Instead, he opted to lose 30% of his fight purse to Benavidez.

The Brazilian is no longer eligible to win the title. Even if he does win the match, the championship remains vacant.

Figueiredo is a huge flyweight. His walk around weight is 165lbs which is too much for a division that needs you to weigh in at 125lbs. He now joins an unlucky list of which Yoel Romero and Travis Lutter are part of.

Apart from that, Benavidez will be eligible to win the title. He will be competing in a title match for the third time in the UFC. This will probably be his final crack at the belt. Both of his earlier losses came by the hands of Demetrious Johnson.

Who do you think will win Saturday’s main event?

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