UFC 255: Deiveson Figueiredo submits Alex Perez in under two minutes to retain flyweight title
- Champ makes statement with slick first-round guillotine submission of American in main event
- UFC president Dana White reveals he is looking to keep the Brazilian in Las Vegas and book him against Brandon Moreno next month
Deiveson Figueiredo proved – if there were still any doubters – he is a real problem.
The flyweight champ made the first defence of his title with a first-round guillotine submission of Alex Perez (24-6) on Saturday night, with Brazil once again having a dominant male champion in the UFC.
The 32-year-old Figueiredo (19-1) then called out No 1-ranked Brandon Moreno (18-5-1) – who earlier beat Brandon Royval in the featured prelim bout at the UFC Apex – as he appeared to waive the chance of giving Cody Garbrandt (12-3) a shot at the title. The former bantamweight champ was Figueiredo’s original opponent for the UFC 255 main event, before withdrawing through injury.
“I want to face Brandon Moreno, that’s the fight I want,” Figueiredo said in his post-fight interview. “Dana White, make it happen.”
And UFC president White went one better – announcing he’s working on that fight for next month.
“We’re gonna keep him [Figueiredo] here, he’s not going back to Brazil,” White said at the post-event press conference. “We’re gonna turn him right around. December, thats what we’re working on.”