The UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo won the gold for the second time in his professional career against his biggest rival Brandon Moreno at UFC 270 earlier this year. After the fight against Moreno, the Brazilian fighter incurred an injury on his finger, which will keep him sidelined from fighting for a couple of months.
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Due to his injury, the UFC has put up an interim title fight for the flyweight belt. Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara France will fight for the interim belt at UFC 277 on July 30. Figueiredo expressed his discontent with their decision in a recent interview.
He in an interview with AG Fight said, “I was upset, because I didn’t expect this from the UFC. A few months ago I did the last fight, and they already put up an interim belt? I’m in disbelief, I am very disappointed. I confess to you that I seriously think about leaving the weight class.”
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Figueiredo also slammed the interim fight as a ‘plastic belt.’ The Brazilian stated, “ I’ve always provided great shows for the event and I feel undervalued for this interim belt. I’ll even use a phrase from Charles ‘Do Bronx’: ‘The champion has a name and his name is Deiveson Figueiredo’. This plastic belt is just one more”.
Figueiredo showed no interest in taking on Moreno and slammed him for being racist against him. The champion will look to make a return at the end of the year and wants a fight against Kai Kara-France.
DIVE DEEPER
Deiveson Figueiredo compares his situation with what Francis Ngannou went through
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Figueiredo also compared himself with Francis Ngannou’s situation and what the heavyweight champion went through around last year. The UFC booked an interim belt soon after Ngannou’s fight due to his injuries. The Brazilian flyweight champion stated that the situation he is in right now comes close to that of Francis Ngannou.
“Exactly man, it comes close to that (Ngannou’s situation). I’m a very calm guy. But I confess, I’m super upset about it. I didn’t expect this, I didn’t even believe it. I thought it’s just the media or something, this belt won’t happen. But they really confirmed it right!? A fake built over there to deceive Kai Kara France with Brandon Moreno”.
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What do you think about UFC’s decision to make an interim title fight between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France? Do you think we will be able to see a decider fight between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo again? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Essentially Sports
