Jerome Rivera claims brutal weight cut led to Deiveson Figueiredo's loss to Brandon Moreno at UFC 263; suggests change in weight class [Exclusive]
UFC flyweight Jerome Rivera believes a brutal weight cut is what caused Deiveson Figueiredo's shock defeat against Brandon Moreno at UFC 263. Rivera said he saw Figueiredo on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi recently and felt that he was too big to be a flyweight.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Rivera claimed that the UFC might offer Deiveson Figueiredo another shot at reclaiming his title. But if they are not willing to book a trilogy fight right away, Rivera claims it's time for Figueiredo to move up to bantamweight.
"He's [Deiveson Figueiredo] a big boy. When we saw him out there in Abu Dhabi, I was kind of sizing him up a little bit and I'm like 'this dude's pretty thick', walks around pretty big. So yeah, I think that it and it seemed like that's affected him a little bit throughout his UFC career, like whenever he did have, his bad fights, usually in the second or third round, him kind of fading a little. So maybe the UFC will give him another chance and they'll do a third fight but if they don't do that, I have a feeling he's moving up to bantamweight."
"He's a pretty big guy and yeah, you know you just got to know your limits. I feel like some guys think they can cut more weight than they can and then they are like 'I'll do the last 15 at the end, I'll do the last 20 at the end.' I mean you just got to prepare and get down as light as you can because it's hard to cut that much weight and it's not good for you," said Rivera.
Deiveson Figueiredo needs to win another fight before challenging for the title again, claims Brandon Moreno
UFC flyweight champ Brandon Moreno is skeptical about offering an immediate rematch to Deiveson Figueiredo.
According to the Mexican, his performance at UFC 263 was dominant and his Brazilian counterpart needs to pick up another win before challenging for the title again.
"The trilogy against Figueiredo too..(is a possibility) I don't know what you think, but I really believe that my performance was very dominant. I think he needs another fight maybe, to think about the trilogy," said Moreno.