Deiveson Figueiredo calls to face Dominick Cruz in bantamweight debut: “Would be a great first fight”

Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo has an opponent in mind for his return.

‘Deus Da Guerra’ has been out of action since his fourth meeting with Brandon Moreno in January. The bout was a historic one, as it was the first time in promotional history two fighters had competed against each other four times. Sadly, it didn’t end well for the Brazilian.

‘The Assassin Baby’ wound up dominating in the flyweight quadrilogy fight, winning by stoppage. Following the defeat to Moreno, the former champion announced his plans to move up. While Figueiredo has long teased that he could move up to bantamweight, he finally seems committed to the move.

A few months on from those comments, Deiveson Figueiredo discussed his return in an interview on the Trocação Franc podcast. There, the Brazilian stated his post-fight comments made at UFC 283 were made in the heat of the moment. As of now, he’s not entirely sure he’ll compete at 135 pounds next.

Granted, he’s leaning that way as of now. If Figueiredo winds up moving up in weight, he would want to face Dominick Cruz in his debut. The former bantamweight champion has been out of action since a knockout loss to Marlon Vera in August.

Image via UFC.com (photographer not listed)

Deiveson Figueiredo discusses facing Dominick Cruz

“I’ve talked to my manager after the fight and we came to the conclusion that Dominick Cruz would be a great fight,” Figueiredo said. “It would be a great first fight at 135. He’s a former champion, I’m a former champion, so it would be a guy with a name and high level to welcome me at 135. That would be great.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

He continued, “Dominick moves a lot and we know we would have to cut his movement. I would 100 percent explore that and train a lot of wrestling. I’ve been training jiu-jitsu a lot, and would train a lot of wrestling too, especially defensive wrestling. Dude is a legend and I know he’s an excellent fighter, he can take people down. I’d block his takedowns and box him hard.”

“There are great guys in this division,” he continued. “To come here and say I will [win and] then fight for the belt, that’s kind of hard. I think I have to come slowly, showing I have what it takes to fight for the belt.”

What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Dominick Cruz? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!