Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is assembling an important flyweight battle between former champion Deiveson Figueiredo and rising contender Manel Kape for the upcoming UFC 290 pay-per-view (PPV) event, locked and loaded for Sat., July 8, 2023 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That’s according to ESPN Deportes.
Figueiredo (21-3-1) was teasing a jump to bantamweight after losing to Brandon Moreno at UFC 283 earlier this year in Brazil, but it seems his new management has convinced “Daico” to stick around the 125-pound division for the time being. As for Kape (18-6), he managed to shake off a pair of early losses to kick off his UFC career and has since won three in a row, including his victory over David Dvorak late last year.
The winner could move on to face the winner of Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja, who are expected to collide for the division strap in the UFC 290 co-main event.
UFC 290 is expected to feature the featherweight title fight between reigning 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski and current interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez. Elsewhere on the card, middleweight bruiser Tresean Gore will look to derail the hype train of 185-pound wunderkind Bo Nickal.
Expect more UFC 290 fight card announcements in the coming weeks.