Deiveson Figueiredo not sold on Sean O’Malley’s punching power: “It would be really hard for him to knock me out”

Deiveson Figueiredo is saying he’s not sold on the punching power of reigning UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.

Figueiredo (24-3 MMA) is hot off a unanimous decision victory over Marlon Vera (23-10 MMA) earlier this month.  It would be the 36-year-olds 3rd consecutive win in the cage.

With the victory, the Brazilian believes he should be next in line to fight for the UFC bantamweight title.

Current UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley (18-1 MMA) is set to defend his title against Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA) at UFC 306 which takes place on Saturday September 14th at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Speaking with ‘MMA Fighting’, Deiveson Figueiredo shared where he believes he’s rated in the bantamweight division:

“I know this win over ‘Chito’ Vera can take me to a title fight soon. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I sell fights better, but I don’t know what Dana (White) and the bosses are planning.”

Continuing, Figueiredo shared:

“Sean O’Malley knows I’m a thorn in his side. He’s taking shots at me ever since I moved up in weight, and I’m sure I’m the one he wants to fight. We have to make the boss want this fight too.”

As for how he would handle a fight with ‘Suga’, Deiveson Figueiredo said (h/t MMAFighting):

“It would be harder to grapple with Umar and Merab, but I can impose my game and become champion. O’Malley moves a lot and it’s hard to touch him, but I would be aggressive on the feet against him.”

“(O’Malley) moves a lot and has good boxing, but we don’t see any power there. He has good boxing, he throws a lot of kicks, but we don’t see those hard knockout shots that hurt his opponents, you know? It would be really hard for him to knock me out.”

Would you like to see a bout between Sean O’Malley and Deiveson Figueiredo in the near future?

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