Deiveson Figueiredo: Kai Kara France Motivated Me to Stay in Flyweight Division

It seemed that a fourth meeting between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno was a virtual certainty until the Brazilian flyweight champion recently used Instagram to challenge Kai Kara France for his next title defense.

"I was informed through international media that my next fight would be against Moreno, but I never accepted that,” Figueiredo told Sherdog.com. “My manager, Wallid, called me last week saying that the UFC wanted the [Moreno] fight and I told him that, as a champion, I should have the right to choose a challenger that motivates me. I fought this guy three times in 13 months. There are a lot of great talents in the division and the weight class must move forward. Moreno lost to [Alexandre] Pantoja twice. if he beats him, we can talk about a fourth fight, but not now.”

Figueiredo also admitted that what he claims have been racist attacks from Moreno’s team, which he mentioned on Instagram, motivated his decision to pursue a fight against Kara France.

"I suffered a lot of attacks on my social media after our second fight and continue suffering [them] after our last fight [at UFC 270]. This is disgusting,” he said. “I’m not motivated to go through that again, unless UFC agrees to pay me $1 million for a fourth fight, as I said before. But I really dont feel motivated to make it now.”

Figueiredo also revealed that to maintain his motivation he even considered going up to the bantamweight division.

"A champion is motivated by new challenges,” he said. “I have to confess that I was seriously thinking of going up and doing a superfight and then returning to defend my belt, but Kai Kara France’s great performance against Cody Garbrandt and now against [Askar] Askarov motivated me to defend my belt against him.”

Regarding his challenge to Kara France, Figueiredo even suggested that the UFC book the fight on his opponent’s home soil. The City Kickboxing representative hails from Auckland, New Zealand.

"I would love to fight in his house. Imagine a card with two title bouts, me and Kara France and [Israel] Adesanya defending the middleweight title. I have no doubt it would do great pay-per-view numbers. Let´s make it happen, Dana.”

Figueiredo’s only request is a little time to recover prior to his next title defense.

“I fought 13 rounds in the last 13 months. Also, the last camp was really tough,” he said. “I´m still recovering from a couple of injuries, and I need time to be in my peak shape again. I´ll get married in June. September would be a perfect date to me.”

Figueiredo also revealed that he is planning to split his next camp between Fight Ready and Chute Boxe.

"My brother will fight on April 30. My plan is travel with him to Las Vegas and stay one month training with [Henry] Cejudo and [Eric] Albarracin, then come to Brazil for my wedding ceremony and finish my camp at Chute Boxe São Paulo with Charles Oliveira and Diego Lima. It´s not decided yet, but we already started the conversation.”

Figueiredo says he plans to move his family to Arizona by next year to be closer to Fight Ready.

"I´m still 34, my plan is to be retired by 40 years old,” he said. “I love Arizona. Also, the atmosphere at Fight Ready is amazing. Moving there with my family will be the best choice for my career and also for the future of my family.”  

 

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