Deiveson Figueiredo Eyes Bantamweight Gold After Planned Knockout of Marlon Vera

A former beltholder wants to take advantage of the historically quicker path of fighting for another Ultimate Fighting Championship crown.

Riding a two-fight win streak in his new division of bantamweight, former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo plans on fighting for a title sooner than later. On the main card of UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday, Figueiredo (23-3-1) will come to blows with Marlon Vera (23-9-1) in a high-stakes 135-pound affair. The two will tangle inside of the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Speaking with Sherdog on fight week, Figueiredo discussed his plans to beat the top-ranked Vera and what could come after.

“I totally left my comfort zone in this camp,” the Brazilian explained. “I spent almost three months in Natal doing my camp with Patricio [Freire] and Patricky [Freire] ‘Pitbull,’ who helped me build my strategy for this fight and also improving my kickboxing skills to surprise ‘Chito.’ He has never been knocked out before, as well as [Cody] Garbrandt had never been submitted. Making history, doing something unprecedented, just motivates me.”

A knockout over name like the Ecuadorian is sure to impresses the masses and the UFC brass, and Figueiredo hopes that kind of win would propel him into a championship fight.

“‘Chito’ is coming from a five-round title fight against the champion, where he lost via decision. I’m a former champion, if I get a win in an impressive way, I’m sure the UFC will give me the title shot,” Figueiredo opined.

In preparation for this fight, Figueiredo—who has competed in Abu Dhabi once back in 2020—made sure to get acclimated to the time and locale early. The man known as “Daico” flew in 15 days before the bout, hoping to remove one variable from the equation.

“I know how hard it is to get adapted both to local time zone and temperature so I decided to get here two weeks before. That fight is really important to my career, and I’m doing the best I can to get the win and finally get the chance to [fight for] my second UFC belt,” Figueiredo concluded.