Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo hopes the UFC can be more understanding of his situation.
The UFC flyweight champion would not like to get the Francis Ngannou treatment.
Although it is rumored that the promotion wishes to have Deiveson Figueiredo fight in July, ‘Deus da Guerra’ does not know if he will be ready by then. However, the Brazilian is aware that the heavyweight division got an interim title fight only five months after Ngannou’s win over Stipe Miocic and worries that the UFC could do the same to him.
In an interview with Ag Fight, Figueiredo emphasized how displeased he would be if an interim belt came into the picture. Should that prove to be the case, Deiveson thinks that can only mean one thing: the promotion does not want the Brazilian as their flyweight champion.
“It would be pretty messed on the UFC’s part (to create an interim belt),” Figueiredo said. “I can’t fight for the belt and then they create another one? That way I’ll know they really don’t want me as the champion. I’ll have to rip off the head of whoever has that interim belt. It took them over four months to create an interim title for Ngannou. I’ve just completed two months with mine. There’s no way they’ll make an interim belt. I’m not opposed to fighting, but I have to be 100% and the money has to be good. I need to value myself. I do what they like, I give them a show and I’ll charge that value as an athlete who sells fights.”
Despite the money, the problem for Deiveson is that he is still nursing injuries that he does not know when will be fully healed. Because of this obstacle, the Brazilian cannot be sure whether he will be in fighting condition in the next few months.
“I’m injured,” Figueiredo said. “It’s an injury that didn’t let me train properly. I can barely make a fist. I’m going through physical therapy to deal with that, it’s a tear in the cartilage. My finger is crooked. My other hand is also injured. I can’t punch pads properly. These are fighting injuries and they want me to fight again so soon? I’m not a machine. I’m 34 and I need to take care of my body. We can book a fight for October or November. I want to be 100% for a fight.”
In his last outing, Figueiredo (21-2-1) recovered the flyweight belt by beating Brandon Moreno via unanimous decision, back in January. Before that, the Brazilian lost the belt to the ‘Assassin Baby’ in June 2021. In their first encounter, in December 2020, the pair fought to a majority draw.