The war of words between current and former UFC flyweight champions has begun as Deiveson Figueiredo responded to Henry Cejudo’s recent trash talk on Thursday.
After receiving his honors as Fighter of the Year from MMA Fighting, Brazil’s Figueiredo gave a short speech via video with the mentioning of “Triple C”. The current champ noted his hopes to pull the former double champ out of retirement this year for a big super fight.
Seeing the video on Tuesday, Cejudo would respond saying he’s trying to enjoy his retirement and not hear his name spoken by the “bum fighter of the year”. In response to Cejudo’s comments, “Deus de Garra” had the following to say.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJwMWbQBlOr/?igshid=13b8m6hqf5c7v
“Hey Cejudo, look at me fatso I’m going to knock you out!!!!” Figueiredo said via a video post on Instagram. “My middle name is ‘Danger’
“Cejudo, Once I have knocked out [Brandon] Moreno I will take your ugly pumpkin head off”
In 2020, Figueiredo fought four times and put on incredible showings in each time out. The Soure, Para native’s run began with two finishes of perennial top contender Joseph Benavidez. The first via knockout with the second by submission to claim the vacant 125-pound crown.
Quarter four of the year saw Deiveson Figueiredo make history. Headlining his first UFC pay-per-view at UFC 255, the BJJ blackbelt forced a quick tap of Alex Perez with a guillotine in just under two minutes. Turning right around, Figueiredo would go from that successful first title defense to headlining UFC 256 just three weeks later.
His challenger for that spot would be Mexico’s Brandon Moreno who also earned a victory at UFC 255. In the end, the pair put on a Fight of the Year contender as they battled to a majority draw. They’re now expected to run things back for a rematch in April or May.
As for Cejudo, his surprise retirement fight came in May 2020 when he scored a second-round TKO over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. It went down as Cejudo’s first and only bantamweight title defense after becoming champion in that weight class the year prior.