Deiveson Figueiredo will make history Saturday when he puts his UFC men’s flyweight championship on the line for the second time in 21 days, the shortest span between title defenses ever in the promotion.
But Figueiredo (20-1) has another fight in mind beyond this weekend’s UFC 256 main event against Brandon Moreno, and it is not against presumed next challenger Cody Garbrandt, whom Figueiredo was scheduled to face in October before Garbrandt, a former bantamweight champion, pulled out with an injury.
Instead, Figueiredo wants to fight former two-division champ Henry Cejudo, and he wants the stakes to be special.
“I want to do the belt, the bad motherf—ers — how you say, the BMF? — with Cejudo, because Cejudo talks a lot of s—,” Figueiredo told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani through an interpreter Tuesday. “Let’s go to BMF for the light weights. Let’s bring attention to the light weight divisions.”
The original BMF fight, in November 2019, pitted Jorge Masvidal against Nate Diaz and was a major spectacle at Madison Square Garden in New York. Masvidal won by third-round TKO.
Figueiredo’s beef with Cejudo stems from their disagreement on who saved the flyweight division from extinction. The weight class had been struggling for attention for years and was rumored to be on the verge of being shut down by UFC. When Cejudo upset longtime champ Demetrious Johnson in 2018, that shined a spotlight on the flyweight division. However, Cejudo fought at 125 pounds only once more before moving up to 135, where he added a second belt in 2019.
After defending his bantamweight title in May, Cejudo announced his retirement, although he has since indicated that he would return to fighting for the right money.
Figueiredo would like to welcome him back, though not necessarily in a flyweight title fight. Although the 32-year-old Brazilian said he plans to be the 125-pound champion “for a long, long time,” he wants to fight Cejudo, who is 33 and from Phoenix, at a heavier weight limit for a BMF belt.
“Henry Cejudo cannot get to 125. He’s too fat right now,” Figueiredo said. “Let’s go to the BMF for the light weights.”