When the UFC needed him most, Deiveson Figueiredo produced a historic turnaround to headline back-to-back PPV cards.
‘Deus Da Guerra’ broke through to become a star for the promotion in 2020 after Figueiredo submitted Joseph Benavidez to usher in a new era at flyweight.
The dangerous Brazilian has since moved up to bantamweight after completing his quadrilogy of fights with Brandon Moreno for the 125-pound gold.
He’s now set to return in the main event of UFC Des Moines where he looks to bounce back into the win column by beating the #4-ranked Cory Sandhagen.
Long before Figueiredo announced himself as a top contender in a second weight class, he proved to be a champion that the UFC could rely on following a nightmare build to UFC 256.
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno headlined UFC 256 after competing on the same card 21 days before
Ahead of UFC 256 in December of 2020, the promotion was in desperate need of a title fight to top the bill and Deiveson Figueiredo stepped up to the plate.
The card had already been scheduled to feature Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns, Amanda Nunes vs Megan Anderson and Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling but all three matchups ending up falling off for several reasons.
Fortunately for the UFC, Figueiredo and an exciting title challenger had already expressed their interest in fighting on December 12 despite the fact that both men were in action just three weeks prior.
UFC 255 on November 21 saw Figueiredo headline the card in his first title defense where he made quick work of Alex Perez, submitting the American in less than two minutes.
Earlier on in the night, Brandon Moreno came through his pivotal clash with Brandon Royval without taking any damage, stopping ‘Raw Dawg’ in the first round after he suffered an injury.
With Moreno now in a three-fight win streak, Figueiredo called him out in his post-fight interview and after both men came through their contests unscathed, plans were immediately put in motion.
Just 21 days later, he’d be back in the Octagon to close the show at UFC 256, setting the record for the fastest title-fight turnaround in the process.
The two flyweight contenders would go on to produce an instant classic at the UFC Apex, fighting to a majority draw which set a whole new bar for the division.
Their iconic first meeting would lead to three more fights between them with Moreno closing out this chapter of their careers by beating Figueiredo for a second time at UFC 283.
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Deiveson Figueiredo has a lot to gain at UFC Des Moines
Whilst he hasn’t yet replicated the success that he had at flyweight, Deiveson Figueiredo has still been very impressive up at bantamweight.
The former champion strung together three consecutive wins against quality opposition before being beaten by Petr Yan in Macau last November.
Heading into that fight, Figueiredo was already on the radar of the current champion, Merab Dvalishvili, so a win on May 3 will put him right back into the title picture.
Cory Sandhagen has only suffered defeats in the UFC to contenders that have either held the title or gone on to fight for it so there’s no better seal of approval than handing ‘The Sandman’ a loss.