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Flyweight contender Jussier Formiga is happy that his division is no longer ruled by Henry Cejudo.
Flyweight contender Jussier Formiga is on the UFC’s side when it comes to the future of his division. After the company decided to take Henry Cejudo’s belt and pair up Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight title, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt was relieved to see that the weight class was once again in motion.
Although he is booked to take on Brandon Moreno in his next outing, Formiga tells Ag Fight he agreed with the UFC’s decision. Even though he is in the mix for a possible title shot with a win, Jussier claims to be completely focused on the task at hand first.
“Of course (that it was a good move for the UFC to take Henry’s belt). The division needed to move on and that was great for all fighters in the division. But I don’t even want to think about (a title shot) now. First, I’ll focus on my fight, which is the most important thing.”
Moreno, Formiga’s opponent, had a decent first stint in the UFC, but ended up released from the promotion with a 3-2 record, after losing two bouts in a row. Now that he is back with a draw and a win in his second Octagon run, Jussier expects nothing but an exciting battle, believing that Brandon will be even more motivated his second time around.
“It’s a great fight. He was released and came back. They usually come back more motivated when that happens, so I hope a great battle. I don’t think he’ll take his chances on the mat with me. But we’ll see on fight night how the fight will go down.”
In his last outing, Formiga (23-6) lost to Benavidez via TKO, back in June 2019. The loss snapped a four-fight winning streak for the 34-year-old, with victories over Ulka Sasaki, Ben Nguyen, Sergio Pettis and Deiveson Figueiredo.
Now, Formiga is scheduled to meet Moreno at UFC Fight Night 170, in Brasilia, Brazil, on March 14. So far, the UFC has not announced a main event for the card, but a co-main event between welterweights Demian Maia and Gilbert Burns was reported to be in the works.