Cody Garbrandt earned an impressive 1st round KO victory over Brian Kelleher at UFC 296 this past weekend and is now doubling down on his interest in fighting former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo next.
“I would love to fight Deiveson Figueiredo,” Garbrandt said at the UFC 296 post-fight press conference. “I think that’s a great fight – two former world champions. He’s now at the bantamweight division. That’s a fight that should have happened years ago. I was obviously taken out from COVID, but flyweight is not my weight – bantamweight is. I feel really good here. I love that fight. I talked to Sean (Shelby) about it. He’s all for it. UFC 300 – I think that would be an amazing, amazing card to put us on.
“(It’s good when) something excites me. It gets me hungry. It gets me motivated and driven to go in there and face one of the best flyweights that came up with the bantamweight former world champion. We’re both on our way back to the top. That’s what we want. That’s why we’re in this sport is to be the best. I think trailblazing through him puts me right to the top.”
Figueiredo made his bantamweight debut against Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 52 earlier this month, earning a unanimous decision victory to take the No.8 spot in the 135lb rankings.
As for Garbrandt, despite two wins in 2023 his dismal run of form prior to that, which saw him win just once in six fights, means that the former champion is currently unranked.
