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Deiveson Figueiredo wants to prove himself against Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo following his title win at UFC Fight Night 172.
Deiveson Figueiredo isn’t just content with winning the UFC flyweight title — the Brazilian dynamo wants to cement his legacy as one of the greatest champions of all time.
That’s why, following his first-round thrashing of Joseph Benavidez at UFC Fight Night 172, the newly-crowned flyweight champ wasted no time in calling out former divisional kingpin Demetrious Johnson, who is currently under contract with ONE FC.
“That’s definitely a fight that all the fans would wanna see, me against Demetrious Johnson,” Figueiredo said at the UFC Fight Night post-fight press conference (h/t Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting). “If the UFC wants to bring him back, I’m gonna be very happy, and I’m gonna knock him out with a lot of pride. Very happy to do that.”
Figueiredo is also hoping to lure former UFC two-division champ Henry Cejudo out of retirement, as the 32-year-old would like to test the waters at bantamweight.
“I’d like to have a fight at 135, you know?” he said. “I’d like to be the guy to bring Cejudo back from retirement. I think he was looking for a worthy opponent, and I’m that guy. I’d love to move up and be able to fight him at 135.”
Figueiredo (19-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) knows he has his work cut out for him as champion, which is why it’s back to the training room as soon as he returns home to to Brazil.
“Now that I have the belt, I have to train very hard. I’m the guy that everyone wants to beat, so I’m the guy that everyone’s looking at.”
Figueiredo submitted Benavidez in the UFC Fight Night 172 main event to win the vacant flyweight championship.