The former UFC men's flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo was mulling over what to do next after losing his title against Brandon Moreno at UFC 283. We saw reports that Figueiredo was going to move up to bantamweight shortly after his title loss due to the weight cut just being a bit too much for him at this stage of his career.
Just then last month we saw a report that Figueiredo was indeed staying put in the flyweight division to take on surging contender Manel Kape. A few weeks go by and we see that this fight was possibly not happening and after tonight's event at UFC Charlotte Dana White confirmed it.
White says that the Figueiredo vs. Kape fight is off.
Apparently it was on, then Figueiredo told @guicruzzz it was off, then it was on again and now it is off again and Figueiredo is moving up in weight.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 13, 2023
Manel Kape was sure that he would be taking on Figueiredo as that was what he was told by the UFC brass but it unfortunately wasn't entirely true. This is a huge blow for Kape who has had a stretch of bad luck getting to the octagon. He has had three bout cancelations in the last year with all three due to his opponent's weight.
Now it's time to think who could be the right fight for Deiveson Figueiredo to make his bantamweight debut. This is the right time to rebook Figueiredo and Cody Garbrandt that never panned out but this time at bantamweight. You have two knockout artists willing to throw down in the center of the octagon, what more could the UFC ask for in terms of an exciting fight for his debut?
It will be interesting to see how Figueiredo will do in his newfound weight class due to his not having a size or power advantage. Nonetheless, he is still a dangerous fight for anyone in the bantamweight division to take and it will be exciting once he makes that debut.