Deiveson Figueiredo is confident that he should be first in line against newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
The former UFC flyweight kingpin has gone 3-0 so far at 135-pound with wins over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera, and was at The Sphere this past Saturday to watch Dvalishvili dethrone Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 306 and mention his name at the post-fight press conference.
“I was watching the fight and in the end he looked at me, I was 10 meters away from him, and he started pointing at me,” Figueiredo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I was rooting for him because now we can make this fight happen. I thought he would call me out in the cage but he mentioned my name in interviews, and I’m here, man.”
Dvalishvili said the Brazilian “deserves it more” than top-contender Umar Nurmagomedov, who’s 6-0 so far in the UFC and recently beat Cory Sandhagen via decision.
“Umar talking about [a title shot], some bullshit there,” Dvalishvili said on Saturday. “[Before he fought Sandhagen] he defeated somebody [in their] debut and then now he wants to fight for the belt? You are out of your mind.
“Figueiredo deserves it more. He’s a former champion, he’s a big name. He’s been fighting. He already beat one former champion and two guys from the top 15. Actually, [Marlon] ‘Chito’ Vera doesn’t count because ‘Chito’ Vera is not a top-15 fighter. He sucks. But Figueiredo deserves it more. He has my respect. He’s a man and he’s been respectful and he’s cool and he didn’t get here because he’s somebody’s cousin. He got here by himself. He’s a good fighter. He’s been there. He was a champion. At least he’s humble and he’s a real fighter.”
Figueiredo agrees with the champion, adding that Nurmagomedov is still untested against the elite of the division. Nurmagomedov’s best wins other than Sandhagen were Raoni Barcelos and Brian Kelleher, both via first-round finish.
“Umar just got here,” Figueiredo said. “He just had his first fight against a tough guy and I’m sure he has to get tested more, to fight someone else first — maybe [O’Malley]. I’m already tested. I left a division where I was champion and moved up and fought strong guys. I had no easy fights. I definitely present more danger to Merab. I’m ready to fight him.
“People have been calling me out since I got to this division. Maybe they think I’m an easy fight, but I show them otherwise in the octagon. I’m ready, man. I’m ready to fight for the belt. I want to win that belt.”
Figueiredo said he would be willing to face Dvalishvili at UFC 310 on Dec. 7, if the champion is healthy for a relatively short turnaround. Dvalishvili competed in seven rounds this year, going 2-0 against Henry Cejudo and O’Malley. The Brazilian veteran said he will focus on grappling training to “confuse” Dvalishvili and become a two-division champion.
“It’s hard for Merab to change his style,” Figueiredo said. “His style is annoying, he trades a little bit and then takes you down pretty fast. You have to be really smart when you fight someone like Merab to put him in danger, too, and I am that guy. I have good jiu-jitsu, I’ve been working a lot on my grappling, and I’ll focus even more on my wrestling now that I’m aiming for this fight.”
“I’ve been evolving a lot in my grappling every since I moved up in weight,” he continued. “I left a division where I was more of a striker and brawled everybody, and now I see people doing more grappling in this division, so I went back a bit and re-activated my knowledge in grappling.”
