Deiveson Figueiredo is set to make his second title defense this weekend against top contender Brandon Moreno. Figueiredo will become the first champion in the company’s history to headline two back-to-back pay-per-views. Before his fight against Moreno, the Brazilian fighter joined Ariel Helwani for a candid interview.
Figueiredo appeared on the show with his coach and translator, Wallid Ismail. When asked about how his weight cut is going and his experience with cutting weight, the UFC flyweight champion responded, “You know, I’m very focused. I just wanna fight. Cut the weight, beat the weight and comeback eat like a tiger. He is a tiger, he is a beast. Fight week is hard.” (as his coach Ismail translated.)
Deiveson Figueiredo is a big flyweight
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Figueiredo is pretty big for the weight class and has had problems with cutting weight before. In his first fight with Joseph Benavidez, Figueiredo came 2.5 lbs overweight at 127.5 lbs.
He subsequently lost the opportunity to win the belt despite winning the fight. When asked how much he weighed at the time of the interview, his coach said, “61.6 kg (135 lbs). 1 lb less than last time.”
The champion still has to cut 10 lbs. But the duo is confident that won’t be a problem, as they believe they have sorted out the problems related to previously failed cuts.
At UFC 255, Joe Rogan claimed that he believes Figueiredo weighs in on at least 150 lbs on fight night. When asked by Helwani if that’s true and if not how much does he actually weigh, Figueiredo responded 65 kg or 143 lbs.
So he gains almost 18lbs of weight overnight after making weight on the day of the weigh-in. This is quite a remarkable for the flyweight division. Furthermore, Figueiredo always seems to have a legit power and strength advantage over his opponents in the weight class.
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On Saturday, Figueiredo will have a tough challenge in front of him in the form of top-ranked Brandon Moreno.
Who do you think takes the win at UFC 256? Can ‘Deus da Guerra’ make yet another successful defense?
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