Wallid Ismail is opening up about his split with UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.

Figueiredo (21-2 MMA) has been recovering from a hand injury since he reclaimed the flyweight title against Brandon Moreno (19-6 MMA) in January of this year at UFC 270.

The Brazilian has been very vocal about his feelings on the UFC creating an interim title in his absence, and has threatened to move up to the bantamweight division as a result. Apparently Figueiredo is claiming that Ismail kept his hand injury a secret from the UFC and he didn’t inform the fighter that an interim belt was on the way.

Figueiredo was also demanding he get increased payouts for his fights in the Octagon and ultimately decided to part ways with manager Ismail.

Ismail, 54, Figueiredo’s longtime former manager, is speaking out about the split with the champion and wanting to set the record straight, telling ‘Sherdog‘:

“From the beginning, I didn’t want to speak out so as not to expose Deiveson. I had informed Deiveson that the UFC would (create) the interim belt if he couldn’t fight until July. The UFC was aware that he was injured. I have conversations with matchmakers informing (them) about the injury. He made a statement in the press saying that he would only like to fight Kai Kara-France in October, although I asked him to fight Brandon Moreno again, as this would be the best fight for his career.”

Continuing Ismail said:

“He wants to look for someone to blame for his wrong decisions. I’m just speaking out because, although he apologized to me for lying that he didn’t know about the interim belt, now he’s back to lying, that I hadn’t warned the UFC about his injury. That’s a lack of character.”

Finishing Ismail had choice words to say about his former fighter:

“This vagabond has become a shameless bastard. First, he lied saying that I hadn’t warned him about the interim belt (the bastard told me he didn’t care). The bastard apologized to me for lying. Now he’s telling another lie. You’re very naughty, Deiveson. I told the UFC that he was injured and could only fight in October. This bastard asked me to say that.”

It is true that an interim champion will be crowned on July 30th at UFC 277 with Brandon Moreno (19-6 MMA) getting into the Octagon with Kai-Kara-France (24-9 MMA) in the flyweight co-main event.

What do you think of Ismail setting the record straight on his former fighter Deiveson Figueiredo?

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