Deiveson Figueiredo likes his chances at UFC 324. |
Getty/UFC
Deiveson
Figueiredo is an an unfamiliar position heading into his fight
with Umar
Nurmagomedov at UFC
324.
According to Stake.com’s Monday odds, the Dagestani, who has only
one loss in his 20 MMA fights, was considered a 10-to-1 favorite.
In an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Figueiredo said that
fact only increases his motivation.
Advertisement
“Everyone knows he has a good grappling game, but he’s going to
face a different opponent, a former champion, and one punch from me
can change everything,” Figueiredo said. “In any case, fighting
against favorites only increases my motivation.”
The former flyweight champion is confident after once again holding
his training camp at Pitbul Brothers.
“The camp here at Pitbull Brothers was perfect,” he said. “The
resources here are excellent. Sparring partners like Leandro
Higo from [PFL] only made me push myself to the best every day,
and thank God we reached the end of the camp without injury. You
can be sure I’ll deliver a great fight. My goal is to win via
knockout or submission.”
Aggression is Key
Regarding the grappling game characteristics of Khabib
Nurmagomedov and Islam
Makhachev‘s team, Deiveson guarantees he is prepared to
frustrate Umar, and his aggression will be a key point of his
advantage.
“I have many more fights than him. I’ll be aggressive, blocking
takedowns and landing hard punches. We know that when we block his
takedowns, he gets frustrated, like other Russian fighters,” said
Figueiredo.
The Brazilian veteran makes it clear that even if he is taken down,
he has prepared surprises for Nurmagomedov.
“If he takes me down, I’ll be working a lot on my offensive
scramble game,” Figueiredo said. “My jiu-jitsu is very sharp for
this fight.”
If he defeats Nurmagomedov, Figueiredo plans on seeking a rematch
with Petr
Yan, the UFC’s current 135-pound champion.
“Merab [Dvalishvili] wasn’t having his best day, but I give all the
credit to Yan for taking the belt,” Figueiredo said. “In this
rematch, I will finally do a camp entirely focused on him, so the
fight would be totally different.”