Outside Source
Alexandre Pantoja and Deiveson Figueiredo are teasing an Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight rematch.
Pantoja (29-5) has defended his flyweight strap thrice since winning it against Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 last year. “The Cannibal” most recently choked out two-time Rizin Fighting Federation champ Kai Asakura who received an immediate shot at UFC 310 earlier this month after signing with the UFC. This is mostly due to a lack of flyweight challenges for Pantoja, apart from running it back with Moreno or Royval.
However, a new contender has seemingly entered the fray who has already handed Pantoja one of his few career losses. Former champ Figueiredo (24-4) is willing to move back down from bantamweight to challenge Pantoja for the flyweight title.
“Since [Pantoja] is looking for someone, I think I’m the best option,” Figueiredo recently told Brazilian MMA journalist Laerte Viana (Translated by Championship Rounds.) “I’m available man. In my entire career in the UFC, I only missed weight once… If I have to make weight, I’ll go there and fulfil my commitment… And our first fight wasn’t easy for [Pantoja]. It was a three-round fight and I certainly won all three.”
Pantoja suffered a “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision loss against Figueiredo in their first encounter at UFC 240 back in 2019. While “The Cannibal” would love to avenge that loss, he is worried about Figueiredo making the flyweight limit after having adapted to 135.
“That’s one of the fights I want to be in,” Pantoja told Ariel Helwani. “Because of course he beat me one time. And I know 100% I can beat him. But it’s going to be like a danger for UFC with him to make weight right now. Maybe danger for Figueiredo to try to do that right now. Because his body just changed.”
Figueiredo moved up to bantamweight after going 1-2-1 in a flyweight title quartet with Moreno. “Daico” beat seasoned bantamweights Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera before dropping a unanimous decision against former champ Petr Yan last month.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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