Deiveson Figueiredo will make his bantamweight debut on Dec. 2, battling top-ranked Rob Font at UFC’s return to Minneapolis, and he revealed on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocação Franca that he’s nearing the end of his MMA career.
“Deus da Guerra” fights professionally for just over a decade and has put on great battles inside the octagon, besting high-level opponents such as Alexandre Pantoja, Brandon Moreno and Joseph Benavidez to reach the top of the flyweight mountain, and the clock is ticking.
“I have three more years ahead of me before retiring,” Figueiredo said. “In the name of Jesus, I want to always, always, always put on great fights for the audience for as long as I’m in action, you can be sure of that.”
Figueiredo, 35, said “sometimes we set plans for our lives and God wants something else,” but he wants to be done “by 38 or 39 to enjoy my family” and pass on his knowledge to hometown kids that dream to one day become MMA fighters.
“I want to live a bit of what I haven’t yet,” he explained. “I’m a kid that have always worked since I got involved with MMA. I wasn’t born in a wealthy family, you know? I was born in Soure, Marajo, and was raised in a farm. My father was a cowherd and always worked in a farm, and one day he realized that he was hurting us, so he took us to the city to study. I’ve studied until I was 18 but always went back to the farm to help my father and take care of animals until I found out about MMA.
“Thank God I’ve achieved a lot through MMA. Look where I am now, in the United States. A kid that left Marajo, a simple town and the farm, and is in the United States now, fighting in the world’s biggest organization, giving my best to MMA fans and changing my family’s story through fighting. And thank God I can help support my family now.”
Figueiredo feels happier and healthier knowing he won’t need to cut extra 10 pounds this time around after years of “suffering” at flyweight, but will remain cautious about his diet to make sure he’s in his peak come Dec. 2. All that, he said, in order to add more UFC gold to his legacy.
“I hope to one way get to the title fight in this division,” Figueiredo said. “That depends a lot on what I do against them.”
Font was close to challenging for the UFC title after beating Sergio Pettis, Ricky Simon, Marlon Moraes and Cody Garbrandt in back to back fights, but then lost three of his next four to Jose Aldo, Marlon Vera and most recently Cory Sandhagen.
Focused on beating Font next, the Brazilian veteran feels that a win over “a tough guy” like him could set up a No. 1 contender bout with Dominick Cruz in 2024.
“That would be a great name for me to fight in my second fight in the division,” Figueiredo said. “It was going to be Dominick now but he’s injured. He’s a former champion and it would be a dream for me to fight a guy that once was a champion.”
Figueiredo moved to the United States with his wife and son to train alongside Henry Cejudo at Fight Ready and give fans more “insane” fights inside the eight-sided cage.
“I was away for a long time and fans are asking for more fights, they want to see me in action,” said Figueiredo, who will finally compete against a fresh opponent after facing Moreno in UF title bouts four times in a row between 2020 and 2023. “Fans know that my fights are always fire and I’ll always train for that, to put on a show for the fans. It’s always an insane fight every time I fight.”
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