Deiveson Figueiredo is hoping his first bantamweight opponent is Dominick Cruz.
After losing the 125-pound title to Brandon Moreno, ‘Deus Da Guerra’ took off his gloves during the post-fight interview at UFC 283. Some people thought he was retiring, but the Brazilian warrior was declaring his interest in moving up to bantamweight.
Although Figueiredo’s decision is not finalized, he announced his desired opponent for his first fight at 135 pounds. During an interview on MMAFighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast, ‘Deus Da Guerra’ had this to say:
“I’ve talked to my manager after the fight and we came to the conclusion that Dominick Cruz would be a great fight. It would be a great first fight at 135. He’s a former champion, I’m a former champion, so it would be a guy with a name and high level to welcome me at 135. That would be great.”
Figueiredo’s last loss against Moreno ended their four-fight series. The brutal weight cut to 125 pounds became too much for the former UFC champion, leading to his interest in a new division. ‘Deus Da Guerra’ should be prepared for a challenge because the UFC bantamweight division is stacked with elite fighters.
Deiveson Figueiredo breaks down his focus in training for a potential fight against Dominick Cruz
Dominick Cruz last fought against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in August 2022, losing in devastating fashion by a fourth-round head-kick KO. Cruz has been impressive in his last few fights, despite losing against ‘Chito.’ During the same podcast appearance, Deiveson Figueiredo detailed how he would prepare for his desired opponent by saying:
“Dominick moves a lot and we know we would have to cut his movement. I would 100 percent explore that and train a lot of wrestling. I’ve been training jiu-jitsu a lot, and would train a lot of wrestling too, especially defensive wrestling. Dude is a legend and I know he’s an excellent fighter, he can take people down. I’d block his takedowns and box him hard.”
Cruz is currently ranked number seven in the bantamweight division. If Figueiredo fights the former champion and wins, he would likely be ranked in the top ten. It’ll be intriguing to see if ‘Deus Da Guerra’ can replicate his flyweight success in his new division.
Quotes provided by MMAFighting.
