Deiveson Figueiredo argues why he should leapfrog other contenders if he rebounds at UFC Fight Night 261.
Figueiredo (24-5-1 MMA, 13-5-1 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he takes on streaking bantamweight Montel Jackson (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in Saturday’s co-headliner (ESPN+) at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
The two-time UFC flyweight champion says bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has already beaten the top four ranked contenders and needs new blood.
“That’s how I see myself, beating a guy who has a very good record,” Figueiredo told UFC News. “Merab is a guy who has fought with everyone in the (division), almost everyone, and won. Looking at the line over there, I’m the only one he hasn’t fought yet, and what took me out of that title fight with him were the two defeats I have suffered. Now I’m back, I’m ready to win. God willing, I’ll be the winner on Saturday, so that this fight can happen. I want to fight him, and I want the UFC to give me that opportunity.”
But first, Figueiredo has to get past Jackson, who is on a six-fight winning streak. Jackson’s 11 knockdowns and 60 percent takedown accuracy are most in UFC bantamweight history.
“The only challenge it poses for me is that he’s long and too tall, and he has sharp boxing,” Figueiredo said of Jackson. “But I’m a guy who really likes boxing. As I said, after my last fight, I continued training boxing, and he’s a guy who comes from wrestling, but I realize that in his last fight, I saw that he was taken down very easily. I’m a guy who has fought some great grapplers. I fought Cody Garbrandt. I fought an All-American wrestler. I defeated both of them.
“He’s a guy I’m just getting to know, even though he’s already had several fights in the UFC. I trained as if he were the best. I won’t underestimate him. He’s a guy with a good winning record, right? And I’m coming from two consecutive losses, but I know the mistakes I made that led to these two losses. Now my head is clear. It’s time to get myself back up, and on Saturday, show that I am the true ‘God of War.'”
