Joseph Benavidez quotes OutKast in vow to soldier on after UFC Norfolk KO loss

Joseph Benavidez is keeping his head up after a knockout loss in his third UFC title fight.

The perennial contender quoted “Elevators” from OutKast in an Instagram post after being stopped by Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Norfolk on Saturday.

“We done come a long way like them slim-ass cigarettes From Virginia, this ain’t gon’ stop, so we just gon’ continue,” he wrote.

Benavidez’s heartbreak could be felt as UFC commentator Michael Bisping conducted a rare post-fight interview from a losing competitor in the octagon.

“I feel like this is isn’t real right now,” he said. “I’m in some freakin’ nightmare. I had a lot of visions of talking to you after and a lot of things that were going to happen that didn’t.

“Sh*t man, life’s tough like that. Everybody’s going through ups and downs everywhere. This is mine. It’s on display. Lucky to be alive, I guess, but I worked my ass off for that and it didn’t go great. Thank you guys for coming out, though.”

It was Benavidez’s third loss in a title fight after a pair of setbacks against now-former champ Demetrious Johnson left him in career limbo. He continued to rack up wins after his second setback to Johnson – a first-round knockout – and was poised to capitalize when Henry Cejudo captured the belt from Johnson. But when Cejudo sought and won a second title at bantamweight, he put plans to defend the flyweight belt on the backburner.

Eventually, Benavidez got his third chance to win gold when Cejudo agreed to relinquish the belt and he was booked against Figueiredo at UFC Norfolk. Then Figueiredo badly missed weight, removing him from title contention with a win. Benavidez took the news as further confirmation of his impending win.

And Benavidez did triumph in the first round on all three judges’ scorecards with a high pace that kept Figueiredo on his heels. But a clash of heads in the second allowed Figueiredo to capitalize, and the Brazilian slugger put Benavidez down with a straight punch and hammerfists.

Benavidez’s wife, UFC commentator Megan Olivi, tweeted her support the morning after the loss.

Cejudo, who’s booked to defend his bantamweight title against Jose Aldo at UFC 250, subsequently vowed to return to his former division as questions swirled about its viability.