Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC Austin, a former world champion will debut in a new weight class. Former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (21-3-1) is moving up in weight to take on top bantamweight contender Rob Font (20-7).
For years, Deiveson Figueiredo struggled to make flyweight. However, he still became world champion and looked like he was going to reign there for a long time. That’s when he ran into Brandon Moreno. From December 2020 through January this year, Figueiredo and Moreno fought each other four times. Moreno ultimately winning the series going 2-1-1 in the four fights.
For the first time since November 2020, Deiveson Figueiredo is fighting someone not named Brandon Moreno. He’s excited for that and the former UFC champion is thrilled to not have to cut the additional ten pounds for this fight. That said, he has a stiff challenge in front of him in Rob Font.
Back in April at UFC 287, Rob Font put on one of the best performances of his career when he knocked out Adrian Yanez in the first round. After that, he had a fight with Cory Sandhagen and just couldn’t stop Sandhagen’s takedowns. He shouldn’t have to worry about that as much in this fight with Figgy.
UFC Austin Prediction
I’m very curious to see how Figueiredo looks at 135. He was such a force at 125 because of how big and powerful he was. However, he’s not going to have the same size advantage at 135 and I wonder if his power will translate up a weight class. A tough thing for him is the fact that he’s going to be taking on one of the best boxers in the division.
While Figueiredo should be fast, he was never the fastest guy at 125. I don’t see him being drastically faster in this matchup and I think defensively he might be in some trouble here. If I was Figueiredo, I would try to mix in the grappling considering how Font struggled with Sandhagen. However, Figueiredo has never really shown great wrestling takedowns and I wonder if he’ll be able to take Font down.
I like Figueiredo at 135, but I’m not a huge fan of this fight for him because there are just so many questions. Ultimately, I like Rob Font to use his boxing and range to get the better of things over the course of three rounds. This could end early, but I think we see a final bell with Font getting the win over the former UFC flyweight champ.
Prediction: Rob Font by Decision