Francisco Figueiredo calls it a “dream come true” to join “warrior” brother Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC

Francisco Figueiredo, the brother of UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, called it a “dream come true” to join his big bro in the UFC.

Manager Wallid Ismail recently announced that the UFC signed Francisco to a contract and he’s expected to compete in the flyweight division, where he will fight alongside his brother Deiveson. Francisco has been a professional MMA fighter for over a decade before finally getting the call. Speaking to AG Fight, the younger Figueiredo brother said it’s a “dream come true” to finally realize his goal of making it to the big show.

“It was a dream come true, not only for me but for my family and my grandfather, who passed away. He was always confident and that one day I would arrive. He called me and asked when I was going to fight. He wanted to know when I was going to fight and he gave me a lot of strength. I knew it was going to come at the right time, so I wouldn’t get discouraged to keep training. Everyone in my family gives me a lot of strength. I knew my time was coming,” Figueiredo said.

Figueiredo said that he had a rush of memories go through his mind, remembering all the struggles and sacrifices he has made over the years before getting the UFC call.

“A movie played in my head about everything we went through when I started training, my first fight, I often felt like stopping, due to an injury, because I thought I couldn’t do it anymore, but even so I consumed the pain and went back to training. I feel proud and it was God’s thing. I feel proud that I didn’t stop, all this time training and I didn’t give up. I have to thank God, my brother who is a warrior and is there making a success,” Figueiredo said.

Although he has mostly fought at 135lbs during his MMA career, racking up an 11-3-1, 1 NC record, the younger Figueiredo brother says he will cut down to 125lbs for the UFC. It’s a similar situation to the Shevchenko sisters, who also both fight in the same weight class in the Octagon. It remains to be seen if Francisco can ever join his brother in the lofty heights of UFC championship status, but the fact that he was able to even make it to the UFC after so many years is an amazing accomplishment.

How excited are you to see Francisco Figueiredo join Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC?