Dana White teased that he would have more UFC 300 announcements today, but someone might have beaten him to the punch. AG Fight is reporting that former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (22-3-1) will be taking on former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (14-5) on the historic card.
This is actually the second time that these two have been paired against each other. When Figueiredo was flyweight champion, Cody Garbrandt was booked to face him for the flyweight title. Garbrandt was coming off his brutal knockout over Raphael Assuncao and used that to angle for a title fight.
They were supposed to fight in November 2020. However, Garbrandt ended up injured and the title shot went to Alex Perez. After failing to get the title shot and with Figueiredo tied up with Brandon Moreno, Garbrandt stayed at 135 and fought Rob Font. He lost a decision and then moved down to 125 to face Kai Kara-France.
The former UFC champion was brutally knocked out and after that, he decided to move back up to 135. He’s looked solid since then winning back-to-back fights. Most recently, he scored a first round knockout win over Brian Kelleher at UFC 296 last month. After the win, Garbrandt called out Figueiredo in his post-fight interview.
UFC 300
Deiveson Figueiredo looked like he was going to be the flyweight champion for a long time. Figueiredo quickly finished Alex Perez in his first title defense and then he took on Brandon Moreno. Moreno wasn’t given much of a chance, however, he pushed Figueiredo and they fought to a draw.
That started a four-fight series where Figueiredo ultimately went 1-2-1 with the most recent battle coming just about a year ago. Following his second loss to Moreno, Figueiredo announced that he would be moving up to bantamweight. He made his debut at UFC Austin back in December and won a one-sided decision over Rob Font.
That win put Figueiredo immediately in the top ten at 135. Now, he’ll face the former champion Garbrandt as he looks to build his resume towards a bantamweight title fight.