Deiveson Figueiredo is well aware that all eyes will be on him during the official weigh-ins on Friday as he prepares for his title fight clash with Joseph Benavidez.
Back in February, the Brazilian was matched up with Benavidez to determine a new flyweight champion after Henry Cejudo vacated the belt. Sadly, Figueiredo stepped onto the scale at 127.5 pounds — 2.5 pounds over the limit for a flyweight title fight — and he was no longer eligible to win the belt.
He went onto finish Benavidez by knockout in the second round, which made the sting of missing weight hurt that much more.
Now as he sits hours away from going through his weight cut yet again, Figueiredo promises that the errors of the past have been corrected and he expects a much different result this time around.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem at all,” Figueiredo said during the UFC virtual media day on Thursday. “My weight is a lot better control than it was for last fight. I actually traveled from [Brazil] around two kilos over so I’m very close to it. That’s about as much as I have to take out on Friday.
“So it should be an easy cut. I’ll start in the morning and I’ll be on weight by the time that weigh-ins start.”
According to Figueiredo, the biggest problem the last time out wasn’t a lack of effort but instead it was the food he was using to fuel his body.
Ahead of the rematch, he took more responsibility when it came to his diet, which he believes will pay off on the scale on Friday.
“The main change was the diet,” Figueiredo explained. “I took a lot more strict diet than before just to make sure that I would travel at a lower weight and wouldn’t have any issues during fight week.”
Because he failed to make weight the last time around, the UFC put a backup plan in place for this event with fellow flyweight Alexandre Pantoja being tapped as a potential replacement.
While he ultimately understands why the UFC made that call, Figueiredo believes it will be totally unnecessary in the end.
“It didn’t really bother me,” Figueiredo said about the replacement fighter on standby. “I understand what they are doing but it did motivate me even more than before to make sure that I’m on weight.
“It’s a very good chance I’m going to be a little but under [weight] this time around.”