Deiveson Figueiredo pushes for title match against Merab Dvalishvili and shares timeline for potential clash
Deiveson Figueiredo has found plenty of success since making the move to bantamweight late last year. After making his divisional debut at UFC on ESPN 52 in December, the former flyweight champion has reeled off three consecutive wins, including victories over a former champion and former title challenger. 'Deus da Guerra' recently made his case for receiving the division's next title shot.
After Merab Dvalishvili captured the bantamweight title with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Sean O'Malley at UFC 306, Figueiredo shared a clip of him greeting the champion to Instagram, captioning the post:
"Hey @danawhite! Let’s make it happen! December 7th! UFC 310 #LasVegas #UFC #TitleShot #DeivesonFigueiredo #AndNew @merab.dvalishvili @daico_deusdaguerra"
Check out Deiveson Figueiredo's Instagram post calling for a title shot below:
Figueiredo defeated Rob Font via unanimous decision in his bantamweight debut at UFC on ESPN 52. He followed that up with a second-round submission victory over Cody Garbrandt to open UFC 300. The two-time flyweight champion defeated Marlon 'Chito' Vera via unanimous decision at UFC on ABC 7 last month.
While UFC 310 would be a turnaround of under three months for Dvalishvili, he did not take much damage in his UFC 306 title-winning victory. If 'The Machine' does not compete on that card, fans will have to wait until next year for his first title defense.
Merab Dvalishvili previously expressed an interest in facing Deiveson Figueiredo next
Merab Dvalishvili has made it clear that he does not believe Umar Nurmagomedov deserves the next title opportunity in the bantamweight division. Prior to facing Sean O'Malley, 'The Machine' supported Deiveson Figueiredo's case to fight for the belt. Speaking to Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, he stated:
"I think next title fight Deiveson Figueiredo deserves to fight for the belt. He beat one former champion in this weight class, one title challenger and he beat Rob Font. And Figueiredo is a former champion and he has a big name and he deserves it because Umar, he only beat Cory Sandhagen from top-15. Only one guy he beat from top-15. Why does he deserve to fight for the belt?"
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments on Umar Nurmagomedov below:
Dvalishvili doubled down on his stance at his post-fight press conference after winning the title. It is unclear if the UFC will give the champion the opportunity to dictate who his next opponent is or if he will face Nurmagomedov in his next bout.