A new Violence King has arisen in mixed martial arts.
He’s a little guy. 5-foot-5, maybe. Grew up on a farm. Colorful hair – used to be a hairdresser. Used to be a sushi chef, too. Tough name to pronounce, even tougher to spell. But with the things Deiveson Figueiredo does to his opponents in the cage, the whole world is going to know his name soon enough.
Fans who are in the know had a pretty good idea about Deiveson Figueiredo heading into Saturday, his first feature spot at a UFC pay-per-view. He’s been putting together quite a nice highlight reel, and did absolutely ungodly things to perennial top contender Joseph Benavidez in winning the flyweight title earlier this year.
Figueiredo blasted Benavidez’s lights out with a monster right hand after seven frenetic minutes in February, then, in July, choked him unconscious after spending the entire first round beating him to a pulp. He emerged as the new UFC flyweight champion, but he was likely the least recognized champion in the organization – men’s flyweight has traditionally been one of the least promoted divisions in the UFC, and both of those wins occurred on relatively lightly watched ESPN+ cards.
But Rome wasn’t built in a day. None of the UFC’s great champions – Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Jose Aldo – were massive superstars from the jump. And on Saturday, Figueiredo did his part, needing less than two minutes to submit Alex Perez and defend his title for the first time.
It was a different type of display from what we saw in the Benavidez fights, but no less impressive. Perez, a terrific young fighter with elite tools, wanted to wrestle the Brazilian, but Figueiredo – aided by a couple cheeky fence grabs, but if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying – defended his single leg takedown before slickly rolling for a leglock. That turned into a scramble, from which he latched onto a guillotine choke.
It looked, for a minute, like Perez was going to pop his head out. He was thiiiiiiis close. Another centimeter and he would be home free and in Figueiredo’s guard. But Deiveson Figueiredo is so goddamn strong. Stronger than maybe any flyweight that’s ever lived. He kept squeezing Perez’s head like a melon, and the challenger soon could take no more. It wasn’t a bloody beatdown or a one-punch KO, but it was a sub-two minute finish. Light work.
Figueiredo is on a run of four straight finishes, none of which took him longer than seven minutes. He’s only looked more and more dominant every time he’s stepped into the Octagon. I wrote before the fight that I could see him embark on an Aldo-like run of dominance over the flyweight division, and that’s looking like more of a certainty right now.
And he’s the kind of action star that the flyweight division has so long needed. Only three fighters have held the flyweight belt since the division was instituted in 2012, Figueiredo included. The two before him were greats. Demetrious Johnson ruled 125 pounds for six years in one of the most dominant reigns in MMA history, before two-division champion Henry Cejudo took the title in 2018.
Johnson was one of the most marvelous all-around technical fighters of all time. He was the complete package. A lightning-quick and elusive striker, he was a terrific wrestler and adept submission grappler who never tired. When you watched him, you felt like you were watching an incredible, finely-tuned athlete at his absolute peak – same with Cejudo, the former Olympic gold medalist, a legendary wrestler who was also tough as nails.
That’s not the feeling you get when you watch Deiveson Figueiredo. He’s something different, something more primal. His nickname – Deus da Guerra – translates to “God of War,” and there’s something very fitting about it. He’s a walking weapon pointed at every contender at 125 pounds. When he beats people, he isn’t outclassing someone for four rounds before grabbing a slick submission like Johnson. He’s handing Benavidez the beating of his life, or popping Perez’s head off like a champagne cork. Everything seems rawer, more shocking, more goddamn savage.
Deiveson Figueiredo carries a sense of imminent violence with him every instant he’s in the cage. It’s made him a world champion, and soon, it should make him a major star. At the end of the day, we watch the sport for the big highlights, and the flyweight division has needed someone who can provide them. Well, Deiveson Figueiredo is going to give them to us. Too bad for everyone else.
The Big Fight 