Figueiredo believes he’d finish Cejudo and Demetrious Johnson

Deiveson Figueiredo feels he could beat both former flyweight champions. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Deiveson Figueiredo believes he can finish former title-holders Henry Cejudo and Demetrious Johnson.

Ever confident, UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo believes the division’s previous title-holders would not have much of a chance against himself. Paired up for a rematch against Brandon Moreno, the Brazilian talked about a hypothetical scenario in which he could face Henry Cejudo and Demetrious Johnson in the Octagon.

In an interview with Ag Fight, Figueiredo explained how he believes Cejudo might come back to the UFC soon and would welcome to take on the ‘Messenger.’ In fact, Deiveson would even be willing to move up to the bantamweight division for a match against Henry, should ‘Triple C’ decide not to cut all the way down to flyweight in his potential return.

“I think he’ll be fighting again very soon,” Figueiredo said. “Maybe not at flyweight, which is my division. Maybe bantamweight or featherweight. I don’t think he has the size to compete at featherweight, but I hope that my first bantamweight fight could be against him. I hope he accepts to fight me, and that Dana accepts to pay us a nice purse. You can be sure that it would be Fight of the Night.”

When it comes to the original flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson, Figueiredo does sing his praises more than Henry’s. Nonetheless, Deiveson believes ‘Might Mouse’ would face the same end as Cejudo in a fight.

“I was surprised (by Johnson’s loss to Adriano Moraes in ONE). He’s a very versatile guy. You don’t know if he’s going to strike or take you down. The Brazilian had a great gameplan. He kept moving in front of him and didn’t give Johnson a chance to take him down. Then his hand landed. It landed and shut him down. It knocked ‘Minnie Mouse’ out cold.”

“Henry Cejudo would be knocked out (in a fight against Figueiredo).” Deiveson continued. “Demetrious Johnson would be submitted. I would catch them both.”

In his last outing, Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1-1) fought Brandon Moreno to a majority draw, back in December 2020. Before that, the 33-year-old was on a five-fight winning streak, with wins over Alexandre Pantoja, Tim Elliott, Joseph Benavidez (twice) and Alex Perez, with all but one victory coming by finish.

Now, Deiveson Figueiredo is expected to rematch Brandon Moreno for the title at UFC 263’s co-main event, on June 12, in Glendale, Arizona. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a middleweight title fight between the champion, Israel Adesanya, and top contender Marvin Vettori.