Triple C: Deiveson Figueiredo, Lord of Nothing, is babysitting my belt

Demetrious Johnson is arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time, but he, and the entire flyweight division, never reach a degree of popularity commensurate with his skill. He advocated for a $2 million payday, and the UFC publicly considered disbanding the division. Then Olympic medalist in wrestling Henry Cejudo beat Johnson for the belt, advocated strongly for the division, and it remained. However, Cejudo went up to bantamweight, gave up the flyweight belt, and then MMA retired. Again, the future of the division seemed uncertain. And then came Deiveson Figueiredo.

“God of War” dominated Joseph Benavidez to win the vacant title, and destroyed Alex Perez at UFC 255 in his first title defense. Then Figueiredo took another title defense, vs. Brandon Moreno, at UFC 256; it will set the league record for fastest time between title defenses. With a dominant win, Figueiredo may well be the fighter of the year.

Now no one is talking about flyweight disappearing. During a recent interview with The Schmo, Cejudo talked about it.

The only reason why Deiveson Figueiredo’s there is because of me, said Cejudo. To me, he’s the lord of nothing. I’m the one that gave him that position. I’m allowing him to babysit my belt and he’s being a pretty good babysitter in my eyes.

I’m still a fan of the sport. I enjoy watching these guys but I think more than anything, I’m actually a critic. Every time I watch the fights I just look at things the fighters are doing wrong and when I see that, even with Deiveson, this is why I think he’s gonna have a hard time and may potentially even lose to Brandon Moreno. All you have to do with a guy like Deiveson Figueiredo is make him grapple for that first round because he’s cutting a lot of weight. By the time that second, third round hits he’s gonna start having that heavy muscle. So I’m actually gonna pick Brandon Moreno – which, he sucks too – but I’m gonna pick him to beat Deiveson Figueiredo.

It’s because he cuts a lot of weight and he’s gonna feel that. Remember, it’s not so much the weight, it’s the fatigue that comes in with losing that weight and I still think he’s a little old school with how he does it. So if I was Brandon, I would capitalize on that. We’re gonna have a new flyweight champion. I do believe that Brandon is gonna beat him. Plus, he used to train with me too, but he knows who the boss is.