Video: Deiveson Figueiredo ‘closed the casket’ after taking Joseph Benavidez’s soul at UFC Fight Island 2

Guilherme Cruz, MMA Fighting

ABU DHABI — Deiveson Figueiredo had but a few hours to celebrate his UFC flyweight championship victory on Fight Island before boarding a flight back to Brazil on Sunday afternoon. With the new belt resting on his lap, he discussed his one-sided victory over Joseph Benavidez, the long road that led to this moment, why he wants Henry Cejudo to be his next fight, and more.

“I knew that when I got the first knockdown he’d lose conscience of what was happening inside the cage and I’d be able to do whatever I wanted with him,” Figueiredo said of Benavidez in an extended interview with MMA Fighting. “And it happened. I knocked him down three times. His soul wasn’t in his body anymore. And then I took what was left and closed the casket.”