When the UFC needed him the most, DeVeSon FigueIredo produced a historic change to head back-to-back PPV cards.
'Deus da Guerra' broke through to become a star for the promotion in 2020 after FigueIredo Joseph Benavidez had submitted to ring a new era in flight weight.
The dangerous Brazilian has since moved to Bantamweight after completing his quadrilogy of fighting with Brandon Moreno for the 125 pound gold.
He is now ready to return to the main event of UFC des Moines, where he looks back to bounce back into the win column by beating the #4-ranked Cory Sandhagen.
Long before Figueiredo announced himself as a top candidate in a second weight class, he turned out to be a champion that the UFC could rely on following a nightmarebuild to UFC 256.
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DEIVESON Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno headed UFC 256 after participating on the same card 21 days earlier
In anticipation of UFC 256 In December 2020, the promotion was urgently needed a title fight to surpass the bill and Deiveson Figueiredo stepped on the plate.
The map was already planned with Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns, Amanda Nunes vs Megan Anderson and Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling, but all three matchups fall off for various reasons.
Fortunately for the UFC, Figueiredo and an exciting title that Challenger had already shown interest to fight on December 12, despite the fact that both men were only three weeks earlier in action.
UFC 255 On November 21, Figueiredo saw the map in his first defending defense, where he quickly made work by Alex Perez and the American submitted in less than two minutes.
Earlier in the night, Brandon Moreno came through his crucial collision with Brandon Royval without causing damage, so that 'Raw Dawg' stopped in the first round after he had sustained an injury.
With Moreno now in a three-field profit reak, FigueIred proclaimed him in his interview after the fight and after both men came through their competitions intact, plans were immediately started.
Only 21 days later he would be back in the Octagon to close the show at UFC 256, so that the record was set for the fastest title fight throughout the process.
The two flying weight contenders would produce an immediate classic at the UFC Apex, fight for a majority splinter that laid a whole new beam for the division.
Their iconic first meeting would lead to three more fights between them, with Moreno closing this chapter of their career by beating Figueiredo for the second time at UFC 283.
DEIVESON Figueiredo has much to win at UFC des Moines
Although he has not yet replicated the success that he had in flight weight, Diveson Figueiredo has still been very impressive at Bantamweight.
The former champion put together three consecutive victories against quality institution before he was defeated last November by Petr Yan in Macau.
On the way to that fight, Figueiredo was already on the radar of the current champion, Merab Dvalishvili, so a victory on May 3 will immediately bring him back to the title photo.
Cory Sandhagen has only had defeats in the UFC led by contenders who have held the title or fought for it, so there is no better approval of approval than handing over 'The Sandman' a loss.