Deiveson Figueiredo is confident he should be the first to face new UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili. To that end, he does not consider undefeated phenom Umar Nurmagomedov well deserving or next in line. Moreover, Dvalishvili singing similar tunes bolstered his claims after last week’s UFC 306 PPV event.
The former UFC flyweight kingpin is now 3-0 at 135 pounds with wins over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt, and Marlon Vera. At The Sphere last Saturday, Figgy watched Dvalishvili dethrone Sean O’Malley atop the UFC 306 Pay-per-view. After the fight, Merab Dvalishvili touted the Brazilian as “more deserving” than Umar, 6-0 in UFC. Deiveson Figueiredo has his thoughts on that.
Umar just got here, …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.
Deiveson Figueiredo to Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) for MMAFighting on SBN
Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was on the ESPN broadcast telecast when Dvalishvili got his belt. The Georgian fighter quickly veered off his thoughts on the Russian as his next opponent. During the presser, he said Nurmagomedov needs wins over more ranked opponents like Figueiredo. The Dagestani fighter recently only beat Cory Sandhagen via decision.
The Brazilian star puts some traction along similar lines. Figgy was a marquee card opener at the milestone April UFC 300 Pay-per-view. A clear draw, his lone UFC competition quadrilogy against Brandon Moreno is also a title fight high stat. He is so close to the esteemed double champion status. As such, Figgy mentions some positive vibes from the new champ.
Deiveson Figueiredo mentions him and new champ measuring each other, 10 meters away from gold
Despite Dvalishvili’s reluctance, Umar Nurmagomedov is a clear-cut option to earn a title shot. However, the notion that Deiveson Figueiredo is the more worthy contender is not far off the mark. Figgy’s last ballot appearance was the same night as him – UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov. ‘God of War’ currently boasts more ranked wins as well.
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Deiveson Figueiredo match to make after UFC 306? (Source: heavy.com/X)After ‘Suga’ and Henry Cejudo, ‘top of the top’ Figueiredo (24-3-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) would be the fifth champion in Merab Dvalishvili’s list. So the dynamic works there in his favor as well. The Georgian champ has been hinting at this to work from even before his fight.
After dispatching Garbrandt at UFC 300, even ‘Deus da Guerra’ doubled down on earning a title shot next. He had O’Malley in mind. After a win over O’Malley’s former title challenger Vera, his confidence got sky high. Now that ‘The Machine’ has been turning attention towards him, Figgy is on the high moons. Post-fight, he also liked the fact that Dvalishvili had his eyes on him – not top contender Nurmagomedov.
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, …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…
Deiveson Figueiredo further recalled-Advertisement-
Figueiredo agrees with the attention he’s getting, adding that Nurmagomedov remains untested against the division’s elite. Nurmagomedov’s best wins outside of Sandhagen were just over Raoni Barcelos and Brian Kelleher, both via first-round stoppage. Meanwhile, Figgy has been a brand value champ in a division south. As such, he likes where this dynamic is going and ponders if he can win gold again after UFC 306.
