Figueiredo-Garbrandt, Shevchenko-Maia Flyweight Title Doubleheader Tops UFC 255

All bets are off when it comes to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship title picture in 2020.

The news first broke from
ESPN on Friday, when the outlet announced per UFC President
Dana White that
UFC 255 would be scheduled for Nov. 21. There is no location or
venue set at the moment, but twin flyweight title fights will
appear on the marquee billing. Deiveson
Figueiredo (19-1) will be squaring off with divisional newcomer
Cody
Garbrandt (12-3), while Valentina
Shevchenko (19-3) will defend her throne against Jennifer
Maia (18-6-1). Both challengers present immediate questions
about their weight, as Garbrandt has never competed at 125 pounds,
while Maia has missed weight in two of her last three outings.

Figueiredo finally won the flyweight crown when he put Joseph
Benavidez to sleep after a dominant performance in their July
rematch. The first time they met in February, the Brazilian missed
weight so he was unable to earn the title after his knockout
victory. The second pairing, Figueiredo hit the proper marks and
decimated Benavidez to earn the strap. By finishing Benavidez that
second time, “Deus da Guerra” tied his vanquished opponent for the
second-most stoppage wins in divisional history with six. Demetrious
Johnson holds that top spot with seven, although “Mighty Mouse”
needed 15 wins to tally that many finishes, while Figueiredo
reached his total after eight victories.

Instead of a rightful contender in the division, Garbrandt will be
the second bantamweight titlist to drop down to skip the line and
fight for the flyweight belt in recent memory. While other more
deserving challengers including Brandon
Moreno, Askar
Askarov and Alex Perez
compete at 125 pounds regularly and all hold longer unbeaten
streaks, the promotion has elected to grant “No Love” a title shot
from a single win at bantamweight. The triumph, a devastating
knockout over Raphael
Assuncao, snapped a three-fight knockout skid at the hands of
T.J.
Dillashaw – a man who also dropped down to flyweight to vie for
the belt – and Pedro
Munhoz. Garbrandt’s victory over Assuncao was his first in over
three years.

Since dropping down to 125 pounds, Shevchenko has not tasted defeat
let alone lose more than a
single round across five dominant performances. Shevchenko
claimed the inaugural title by handling Joanna
Jedrzejczyk – although the former strawweight queen managed to
win one round of five – and has defended it without issue against
Jessica
Eye, Liz
Carmouche and Katlyn
Chookagian. With five wins in five bouts, Shevchenko is tied
with Gillian
Robertson as the winningest fighter in the short history of the
UFC’s women’s flyweight division.

Somewhat similar to Garbrandt, Maia will be getting a title shot
off a lone stoppage win. Joanne
Calderwood was slated to face Shevchenko, but when the champ
suffered an injury, “Jojo” decided to take another fight to stay
active. Maia finished her in the first round with an armbar to
transfer the title shot to the Brazilian, and in doing so snapped
an eight-fight decision streak. In a prior losing effort to
Chookagian, Maia came in over a pound heavy, while ahead of her
decision victory against Roxanne
Modafferi, the
Invicta Fighting Championships flyweight champ was three pounds
above the limit.

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com

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