Joseph Benavidez says lack of mental discipline caused Deiveson Figueiredo to miss weight

The MMA community was left disappointed on Friday morning when Deiveson Figueiredo missed weight for his vacant flyweight title against Joseph Benavidez.

Benavidez meets Figueiredo on Saturday night in the main event of UFC Norfolk, but the vacant UFC flyweight title will only be on the line for Benavidez in the bout. That’s because Figueiredo stepped onto the scales at 127.5lbs, coming in 2.5lbs heavy for his vacant flyweight title fight against Benavidez on his first attempt on the scale to make weight.

Team Figueiredo told BJPenn.com that UFC doctors would not allow Figueiredo to continue cutting weight after his initial miss, so while he will still compete on the card, he will not be eligible to win the title against Benavidez. Only Benavidez will be allowed to become the new UFC flyweight champion with a win at UFC Norfolk.

Speaking to ESPN, Benavidez says that Figueiredo missing weight shows that the Brazilian is not mentally prepared to compete this Saturday night for his first UFC belt.

Joseph Benavidez (@JoeJitsu) on Deiveson Figueiredo failing to make weight for their title fight tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Ngjb0aTFkV

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 28, 2020

“It’s more of a mental discipline thing, making weight, you know? It just shows me you didn’t come to do this, you didn’t come to win the belt and it adds that conviction and what I already know and believe anyway, it’s like, you weren’t getting it anyway, and now you literally can’t. That’s all on him, that part of it, you know? What I was going to do was going to happen regardless, like I said, if he made or missed,” Benavidez.

While he was obviously disappointed his opponent made weight, Benavidez is looking at Figueiredo missing as a positive. In Benavidez’s mind, the rough weight cut is a positive because Figueiredo suffered cutting as much weight as he did.

“I assume he suffered as much — my weight cut was clean — so he suffered more than me at the end of the day,” Benavidez said.

What do you think about Deiveson Figueiredo missing weight for his title fight against Joseph Benavidez?