Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo will run him for the vacant Flyweight title this Saturday. night (July 18, 2020) at UFC Fight Island 2, live from inside the Flash Forum Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Before that, let’s take a return trip to see how their first meeting unfolded earlier this year. The two met in the UFC Fight Night 169 main event in February over the vacant belt after former UFC champion Henry Cejudo was stripped of the title.
However, before the fight, disaster struck when Figueiredo lost 2.5 pounds, making him ineligible to win the title. But that did not stop the Brazilian bomber’s determination to win. After all, he was still fighting for the second half of his paycheck and hoped to earn some sort of redemption after his ladder failed.
Things got furious as Figueiredo was quick to attempt armor after the two became entangled after an early takedown. Once he got to his feet, Benavidez did his best to throw his power shots, although “Daico”, who looked like a heavier weight class than Joseph, did well to counter-attack.
In the second round, Figueiredo started breaking Benavidez with hard punches. During an exchange in the center of the cage, the two men accidentally collided with their heads, opening Benavidez in his forehead. A few seconds later, Figueiredo tagged “Joe Jitsu” with a direct hit through the pipe, sending him crashing into the canvas. From there it was quite elementary, as Deiveson pounced on his fallen enemy and stopped the fight with hammer fists.
Now, “Daico” will look to go up 2-0 against Benavidez, this time fulfilling his championship dreams. For Joseph, it is his chance not only to get highly desired revenge, but his first contact with UFC gold after three previous failed attempts.
To view the entire fight card and line up for “Figueiredo vs Benavidez 2”, click here.
