Tag: Deiveson Figueiredo

UFC on ESPN+ 27: Make your predictions for Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo in Norfolk

We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 27 event in Norfolk, Va.

We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 27 event in Norfolk, Va.

Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the UFC on ESPN+ 27 event staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streams on ESPN+.

Make your picks for all six main card fights inside:

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UFC Norfolk poster touts title fight: Joseph Benavidez or Deiveson Figueiredo?

Will the third time be the charm for Joseph Benavidez when he goes after the vacant UFC flyweight title in Virginia?

Will the third time be the charm for [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag]?

There’s no denying Benavidez is one of the best to ever do it in the flyweight division. But in two tries, a UFC title has eluded him thanks to Demetrious Johnson.

The two fought for the inaugural UFC 125-pound belt in 2012, but Johnson took a split decision at UFC 152. A little more than a year later, the two met again – but “Mighty Mouse” shut down Benavidez with a first-round knockout. It remains the only time Benavidez has been stopped.

Johnson headed for ONE Championship, where he’s not the titleholder, after a close loss to Henry Cejudo, who went on to become a two-division champ. He recently vacated the flyweight belt, though he remains the bantamweight champ.

And that sets up Benavidez (28-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC) to fight Brazil’s [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the title next month at UFC on ESPN+ 27. The event takes place at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streams on ESPN+.

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Tuesday, the UFC released the official poster for the event featuring the two headliners. Benavidez has won nine of his past 10 fights – including one over Cejudo. Figueiredo has just one loss in his career.

Check out the official poster below:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for vacant flyweight title
  • Zarah Fairn vs. Felicia Spencer
  • Grant Dawson vs. Chas Skelly
  • Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumont
  • Brendan Allen vs. Tom Breese
  • Kyler Phillips vs. Gabriel Silva

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

  • Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
  • Serghei Spivac vs. Marcin Tybura
  • Giga Chikadze vs. Mike Davis
  • Aalon Cruz vs. Steven Peterson
  • T.J. Brown vs. Jordan Griffin
  • Sean Brady vs. Ismail Naurdiev
  • Alex Munoz vs. Luis Pena

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Tickets on sale this week for UFC on ESPN+ 27 in Norfolk

The UFC returns to Virginia with a fight for the vacant flyweight title between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo.

The UFC returns to Norfolk, Va. on Feb. 29 with a vacant flyweight title fight between No. 1 contender [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag].

After UFC current bantamweight and former flyweight champion Henry Cejudo relinquished the 125-pound title, a fight between Benavidez (28-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and Figueiredo (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was set to crown a new flyweight champ.

Benavidez has won three in a row and is coming off a “Performance of the Night” finish over Jussier Formiga. He has been on standby for a title shot ever since, and will finally get his third crack at UFC flyweight gold. Benavidez twice lost to former champion Demetrious Johnson, most recently in 2013.

Figueiredo is coming off back-to-back wins over Alexandre Pantoja and Tim Elliott, and only has one career blemish. Fourteen of the Brazilian’s 17 pro wins have come by the way of finish.

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Tickets for UFC on ESPN+ 27 are on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. ET through chartwayarena.com. There is an eight-ticket limit. Ticket prices have not been announced.

UFC Fight Club members can purchase tickets Wednesday via ufcfightclub.com beginning at 10 a.m. ET. UFC e-newsletter subscribers can purchase tickets Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Feb. 29 at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card will stream on ESPN+.

The UFC on ESPN+ 27 lineup currently includes:

  • Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for vacant flyweight title
  • Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumont
  • Brendan Allen vs. Tom Breese
  • Zarah Fairn vs. Felicia Spencer
  • T.J. Brown vs. Jordan Griffin
  • Kyler Phillips vs. Gabriel Silva
  • Aalon Cruz vs. Steven Peterson
  • Sean Brady vs. Ismail Naurdiev
  • Giga Chikadze vs. Mike Davis
  • Serghei Spivac vs. Marcin Tybura
  • Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba

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Callout Collection: Who UFC on ESPN+ 23 winners want next – and how likely they’ll get them

“The Korean Zombie”, Volkan Oezdemir and Charles Jourdain were among those with specific names in mind for their next fight after UFC on ESPN+ 23.

Earning wins in the UFC is certainly no easy task, but what comes next is often even more important: the post-fight callout.

So after Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 23 event in Busan, South Korea, who took advantage of their time on the mic? See below for this week’s Callout Collection – and just how realistic each one is.

* * * * *

First up, let’s take a look at the night’s prelim winners.

Alexandre Pantoja

Wants to fight:[autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (for the UFC flyweight title)

The callout: “I think that I’m the next in line for the title. I’ve shown it many times. Maybe it wasn’t my day in that fight (at UFC 240) against Deiveson, but I know I can come back better. My team and I we went over that fight many times. We analyzed it and saw what I could improve. There is always room for improvement, and I’m striving for perfection. I really hope Deiveson wins, and we are able to run it back, this time for the title.”

The reality: The UFC’s flyweight division is wide open once again following Henry Cejudo’s decision to relinquish the 125-pound title, and the crowning of a new champion when Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez meet on Feb. 29 will mark the beginning of a new era for the division.

Pantoja is certainly within touching distance of a title shot, but may actually be better off hoping for a Benavidez win, especially considering the recent form of the division’s other top contender, Jussier Formiga.

Formiga’s last outing saw him lose to Benavidez, which would seemingly give Pantoja a stronger case for the next shot if Benavidez captures the belt. But prior to that defeat, Formiga defeated Figueiredo which, you would assume, would make his case for the first shot more compelling if his fellow countryman wins the title in Norfolk.

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Next up, let’s check out the main card.

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Henry Cejudo to be stripped of flyweight belt, Joseph Benavidez-Deiveson Figueiredo title fight targeted

The UFC flyweight division is moving on without Henry Cejudo and a matchup for the vacant belt is being targeted.

The UFC flyweight division is moving on without [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag].

There are plans in place for the UFC to strip Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) of the 125-pound belt in order to set up bout for the vacant championship between [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag]  and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] for UFC on ESPN+ 27.

MMA Junkie confirmed the information about the plan to strip Cejudo, as well as the planned title fight booking, with multiple people close to the situation following an initial report about the matchup from BJPenn.com.

UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Feb. 29 at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card will stream on ESPN+.

Benavidez (28-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC), who’s on a three-fight winning streak, has been on standby waiting for a title shot since beating Jussier Formiga at UFC on ESPN 3 in June. He wanted the rematch with Cejudo, who he beat by split decision in December 2016, but was OK taking a different fight if he wasn’t returning to 125 pounds.

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He indeed won’t be, and now Benavidez will take on Figueiredo (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who has lost just once in his 18-fight career. The Brazilian is coming off a first-round submission win over Tim Elliott at UFC on ESPN+ 19 in October.

Cejudo manager, Ali Abdelaziz, indicated to MMA Junkie his fighter, who will continue on as bantamweight champion, is ready to move forward.

“We haven’t been told anything official yet, but the UFC got to do what they got to do,” he told MMA Junkie. “We move on.”

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