Deiveson Figueiredo believes the reason he did not knock Brandon Moreno out was less about Moreno’s skill set or durability and more about extenuating circumstances.
At UFC 256, reigning flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo retained his championship in a majority draw against Brandon Moreno. The fight was favored to end inside the distance, and Figueiredo believed that this bet was a lock for anyone who decided to place a wager. Given the fact that his last four wins coming into the fight were stoppages (as well as 17 of his 20 wins overall), Figueiredo had good reason to be confident. Unfortunately, he was hospitalized 24 hours ahead of the event, which is what he attributes to him not getting the finish.
“If I’m not sick, I knock him out or submit him in the first round, that’s a promise,” Figueiredo said through his manager, Wallid Ismail in an ESPN interview. “I’m much stronger, I’m much faster.”
Deiveson Figueiredo’s manager would then elaborate on Figuereido’s struggles leading into the event.
“When he ate the soup, everything fell apart,” Ismail said. “He threw up and the nightmare started. It was 30 hours of nightmare. We went directly to the hospital.”
“His belly was this size,” Ismail said with his hands extended. “(He had) a lot of gas infection. Everybody was like, ‘He’s not going to fight.’ I called the UFC and said, ‘Hey man, the guy is really bad right now.’”
All things considered, Deiveson Figueiredo has much to be proud of. The fact that he was able to rebound from these serious issues to retain his championship and put on one of the best fights of the year is a feat most men could not pull off. And part of the reason he was able to do it is that he did not feel like a man at all before making the walk to the cage.
“My feeling in the locker room was like an animal – furious, like a tiger,” Figueiredo said. “My mindset was to knock out the guy. … But unfortunately, (I) couldn’t do it.”
Do you believe Deiveson Figueiredo will knock Brandon Moreno out within two rounds the next time they fight?
