"They were calling him a monkey" - Henry Cejudo talks about the alleged racist comments made by Brandon Moreno's team against Deiveson Figueiredo
Henry Cejudo is backing up his teammate Deiveson Figueiredo regarding racist comments allegedly made by Brandon Moreno's old coaching team.
After watching Kai Kara-France defeat Askar Askarov at UFC Columbus, Figueiredo went on Twitter and declared he wanted to fight Kara-France for his next title defense. That was pretty surprising to many as reports had the UFC working on a fourth fight between Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno for the summer.
Vs
let’s make it happen @danawhite
Congratulations you dirty kiwi @kaikarafrance you just punched your ticket with the God of War. @theassassinbaby you just took the back seat. You are 0- 2 against @Pantojamma if you could beat him I’ll give you the next title shot. 🇧🇷 Vs🇦🇺 let’s make it happen @danawhite https://t.co/mysuGl9Wsa
Figueiredo trains with Henry Cejudo at Fight Ready in Arizona, and Cejudo explained on The Triple C & Schmo Show what caused the sudden change of plans. He said:
"I spoke to him a couple days ago and he said 'After I heard what Brandon Moreno's team were saying, calling me a monkey and things like that,' that was the old coaching staff but it all falls back to Brandon Moreno and his team. Doesn't matter if he got rid of them yesterday, he didn't like that. I said 'Tell the world, tell Dana White, tell them this is why.'"
Cejudo said the 'monkey' attacks really bothered Figueiredo:
"They said some racist comments and Brandon's coach, he put a monkey's face [on Figueiredo]. About a month back Deiveson was posting about stopping racism, so I don't think people realized what Deiveson Figueiredo was feeling. He felt like a lot of Brandon's team were throwing a lot of comments at him. So I don't think he's gonna give Brandon that opportunity. Remember: the guy with the gold makes the rules, and right now Deiveson Figueiredo has that golden strap."
Watch the full episode of The Triple C & Schmo Show below:
Brandon Moreno wants Kai Kara-France next if Deiveson Figueiredo won't fight him
Brandon Moreno has switched camps and no longer works with the coach that posted the picture Deiveson Figueiredo referenced. While he hasn't addressed Figueiredo's racism accusations, he has criticized the champ for refusing to fight him.
In one Instagram post he wrote:
"Figueiredo's ovaries hurt and he doesn't want to fight!! How about an interim against Kai Kara-France until the gremlin grows some eggs again!!"
In another Moreno wrote:
"I don't run and I don't make excuses, I just work hard every day. I'm still waiting."
At this point there have been no official updates from the UFC regarding an opponent or date for Deiveson Figueiredo's next flyweight title defense.