UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja has a dilemma.
He has defeated almost every top contender in the flyweight division–many of them multiple times. Because of his dominance over the 125-pound division, Pantoja doesn’t have a lot of options on the UFC’s roster.
Things got so desperate for Pantoja that he called out retired former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson following his second-round submission win over Kai Asakura at UFC 310.
While Pantoja is looking for his next challenge outside the UFC, his next challenger could be another former 125-pound champion who has moved up to bantamweight.
Deiveson Figueiredo made it clear he is willing and able to come back down to flyweight to challenge Pantoja.
“I saw that he challenged Demetrious Johnson, and I’ve volunteered [to fight him],” Figueiredo told MMA Fighting. “Demetrious Johnson is retired and doesn’t want to fight again. If he’s looking for someone to fight, why didn’t he mention my name?”
Figueiredo is armed with an impressive 2-1 record during his run at bantamweight, a stint as the flyweight champion, and a win over Pantoja in 2019.
“I beat him when I was at flyweight,” Figueiredo continued. “If the UFC wants to put me against him, I’m open to going down to 125 for this fight.”
When asked about the potential difficulty of making 125 pounds, Figueiredo says that won’t be an issue.
“I went down from 163 pounds to fight at 125, and now I’m fighting at bantamweight and staying lighter, around 156,” Figueiredo said. “I’d be around 150 for this fight so I could make weight easier.”
Figueiredo was dominant against every flyweight besides Brandon Moreno. The 36-year-old began his UFC career with four straight wins before he lost a unanimous decision to Jussier Formiga in March 2019.
Following the loss to Formiga, Figueiredo scored the win over Pantoja and never lost to anyone else in the division except Moreno, whom he fought four times with a 1-2-1 record against the Mexican icon.
The fight with Pantoja happened five years ago, so it’s unclear how much weight should be put on that fight. However, it’s hard to argue against Figueiredo being the best opponent to challenge Pantoja for his title.
Robert Whittaker Doesn’t See Strickland-Du Plessis Rematch Going Any Different
Robert Whittaker applauded Sean Strickland’s patience in waiting on his title shot, but doesn’t see the former’s path to victory over Dricus du Plessis in their rematch.
“Yeah, uh, I’m surprised Sean literally just sat out,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. “Like, everyone was laughing at him when he said, “I’m gonna sit out until I get my title shot.” Yeah, dude straight up got a title shot. Props for that. Like, you gotta give it to him. Guy, like, straight up stuck by what he said. Mmm. Um, in my opinion, I don’t see the fight going any different. Like, du Plessis’ such a dog in there. He’s gonna come with the same aggressiveness and game plan. What could Sean do differently to change the outcome from last time? Okay, because if we look at it, it doesn’t happen often, but the challenger beats the champion by decision.”
Du Plessis and Strickland are set to headline UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia on February 8. The card will also see UFC strawweight champion, Weili Zhang defending her title against No. 1 contender, Tatiana Suarez.
