UFC president Dana White praises Deiveson Figueiredo for displaying ‘pure violence’ over Joseph Benavidez to claim flyweight title
Dana White heaped praise on Deiveson Figueiredo for his dominant victory over Joseph Benavidez in their UFC flyweight title bout on Fight Island.
The first fight in February between the pair ended in controversy after Figueiredo accidentally head butted Benavidez and scored the victory.
‘God of War’ also missed weight for the first fight and so did not take the belt with him following the victory, but made sure to leave little doubt as to who the best in the world is at 125lbs.
Benavidez was making his fourth attempt at trying to capture UFC gold, but was dropped three times in the first round before being submitted via a rear naked choke.
While fan favourite ‘Joe-Jitsu’ is left in a state of limbo after the demoralising defeat, White loved what he saw from the Brazilian champion.
“Pure violence,” White said (via ). “No controversy in this one. We have pretty nasty champions in those two divisions now.”
The future of the flyweight division has been in a state of flux after Henry Cejudo moved up after defeating TJ Dillashaw, but the UFC president was quick to reassure fans that would not be happening.
“When was the last time I talked about getting rid of the (flyweight) division?” White said. “Yeah, it’s here. Look at how good this guy looked tonight. Look what he did.
“(There was) a ton of controversy in the first fight from weight to headbutts. (There was) no controversy in this one.
“The guy came in and did what he said he was going to do against the No. 2 ranked guy in the world and he looked damn good doing it.”
Figueiredo has expressed a desire to replicate Cejudo’s achievements and become both flyweight and bantamweight champion, but his boss is adamant mandatory title defences are what will come next.
“I’d like to see him defend his title a couple times,” White said. “Maybe if he defends the title a couple of times, that’ll be interesting, yeah.”
UFC Fight Island 2 - FULL RESULTS
Main Event
- Flyweight (championship fight): Deiveson Figueiredo def. Joseph Benavidez by first-round submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:48
- Middleweight: Jack Hermansson def. Kelvin Gastelum by first-round submission (heel hook) at 1:18
- Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev def. Marc Diakiese by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Women's Flyweight: Ariane Lipski def. Luana Carolina by first-round submission (kneebar) at 1:28
- Flyweight: Askar Askarov def. Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Prelims
- Light heavyweight: Roman Dolidze def. Khadis Ibragimov by first-round technical knockout (strikes) at 4:15
- Catchweight (150 pounds): Grant Dawson def. Nad Narimani by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27)
- Lightweight: Joel Alvarez def. Joe Duffy by first-round submission (guillotine choke) at 2:25
- Bantamweight: Brett Johns def. Montel Jackson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bantamweight: Amir Albazi def. Malcolm Gordon by first-round submission (triangle choke) at 4:42
- Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan def. Davi Ramos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Heavyweight: Sergey Spivak def. Carlos Felipe by majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27)