A month after meeting with the CEO of UFC was next 's bantamweight title, intends to change his mind with a major victory in China.
Figueiredo, a former flyweight champion, is making headlines against the former bantamweight titleholder, who is looking to improve to 4-0 in just over 11 months since moving up to 135 pounds and hopes that will be enough to earn a shot at a second UFC belt.
“After Petr Yan, it will be four wins in a row and the UFC will definitely give me the opportunity to fight for the belt,” Figueiredo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Merab has already called me. Petr Yan has been challenging me since I gained weight and now I have decided to accept it. We will fight. [He] can't walk anywhere anymore. We’ll sort that out on Saturday.”
Nurmagomedov is 18-0 as a professional fighter and has a half-dozen UFC victories, including three finishes , And . In his most recent appearance, the Russian complained about a decision . Meanwhile, Figueiredo is 3-0 against in the bantamweight division , And .
“Umar hasn’t been tested that much,” Figueiredo said. “He has now fought against a top-ranked fighter, but it is a fight that is not favorable [Sandhagen]. He's more of a striker who knows wrestling, but not a finisher either. I think he should fight someone else who poses a threat to him.”
“Merab’s plan is to fight me. He’s made it pretty clear,” he continued. “He wants to fight me, he wants to compete with me. I want to win this fight now so we can fight for the belt. I want to have that chance against him too. Dana, send me the contract so I can be ready to fight him. I'm 36 and have no time to waste. I will stay active after this fight and just wait for my chance when they call me.”
However, Figueiredo first needs to get past Yan in a five-round main event in China, and he sees No Mercy as the perfect match stylistically. Yan won a decision over Yadong Song in his last appearance in March, rebounding from three straight decision losses against , and Merab Dvalishvili.
“Petr Yan has good takedown defense and excellent striking, but we see that he doesn’t know much about grappling,” Figueiredo said. “He has no grappling, no jiu-jitsu, so his opponents work on that. Merab did this and struck him down at will. His losses were all due to this. For my part, I am very unpredictable. I worked a lot on my swing. He's an excellent striker, but I've been working to make sure he can't touch me and I can capitalize on his mistakes. He opens up a lot and we worked to take him down and give ourselves a shot at the belt.”
