Deiveson Figueiredo, UFC 300 ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
Deiveson Figueiredo revealed in an interview with Laerte Viana that he could be prepared to rematch flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.
The 2 first met in July of 2019 at UFC240 when Figueiredo received through unanimous choice. Regardless of a clear sweep on the scorecards, the pair had been awarded Combat of the Evening honours. Figueiredo (24-4-1) went on to grow to be a two-time champion and moved as much as bantamweight after dropping the belt to Brandon Moreno for the second time.
Pantoja has since gone 8-1, together with the 7-fight win streak he’s at present on. With the champion being 7-0 towards the present prime 10 of his division (9-0 together with The Final Fighter matches), there isn’t a transparent #1 contender for him to battle. There’s a case to be made for Kai Kara-France whose loss to Pantoja was an exhibition match on TUF, which doesn’t present up on his skilled document. Nonetheless, his knockout of Steve Erceg in August was his first win in over two years; not precisely screaming “title shot” with a bullet. With a card within the Oceanic area in February, it wouldn’t be a travesty to have Kara-France battle as soon as extra earlier than anointing him as the subsequent contender.
Together with his resume as a two-time champion of the division and a win over the present champion, Figueiredo’s case may very well be argued to be stronger than Kara-France’s. Although, some may level to his current loss to Petr Yan, in addition to his final flyweight battle additionally being a loss. We do should needless to say it’s not unusual for former champions to get title photographs coming off losses. We’ve got seen it thrice this very yr with Israel Adesanya, Julianna Peña and Stipe Miocic. All three had been granted title photographs regardless of none of their matchups being instant rematches. With that precedent established and the present state of the flyweight division, Figueiredo’s case for a shot at Pantoja could also be rather a lot stronger than most initially thought.
The primary impediment may very well be the load. The weigh-ins had been at all times aggravating for Figueiredo as he usually seemed depleted on the scales when making an attempt to make 125 lbs. Nonetheless, he’s appropriate when he says he solely missed weight as soon as (first Joseph Benavidez battle). After what was initially stated to be a full time transfer to 135 lbs, the promotion is perhaps hesitant to belief him to make championship weight once more. Moreover, juggling weight courses might not be advisable for Figueiredo who will flip 37 subsequent week.
If he can show to the UFC that the load could be made, we may see a rematch between ‘The Cannibal’ and ‘Deus da Guerra’.
