Following Deiveson Figureiredo’s dominant victory over longtime top contender Joseph Benavidez in their July title fight rematch, it seems Cody Garbrandt saw an opportunity. The former bantamweight champion has long teased a potential drop to the flyweight division and, without a clear challenger to the Brazilian’s newly captured title waiting in the wings, this appeared to be the perfect time to make that move—and maybe just cash in big in the process.
But, if a quick jump down to 125 lbs for a title fight was Garbrandt’s plan, it appears ‘Deus Da Guerra’ has other plans. Figueiredo recently spoke to MMA Fighting about the Team Alpha Male fighter’s championship aspirations, and made it clear that he’d like to see ‘No Love’ fight in the division first.