Deiveson Figueiredo still not medically cleared, out of UFC 290 fight against Manel Kape
Deiveson Figueiredo will not be fighting at UFC 290 after all.
Back at UFC 283 in January, Figueiredo lost his flyweight title with a third-round TKO loss to Brandon Moreno to lose his title. He suffered an eye injury in the fight and after the loss, he said he would be moving up to bantamweight. However, it was then revealed he was staying at flyweight and was booked to face Manel Kape at UFC 290 in July.
Now, however, Canal Encarada revealed Figueiredo is not medically cleared and is out of the fight. The Brazilian then confirmed the news to MMAFighitng’s Trocação Franca podcast.
“I’m still injured,” Figueiredo said. “I asked for a fight, told my manager I wanted to fight already, but when he gave me the fight and I talked to my physical therapist and my ophthalmologist, [they said] my eyesight is still not 100 percent. There are days I see things normal, but there are days it’s not OK, especially the days after I train, so they decided I had to go the full six-month [medical suspension] the ophthalmologist gave me [after UFC 283].”
As of right now, Deiveson Figueiredo says he will stay in the gym training but is avoiding sparring. He also admits he wasn’t happy with facing Manel Kape anyways as he wants a top-five opponent and mentions Kai Kara-France or Brandon Royval as possible return opponents.
“I admit I didn’t understand it,” Figueiredo said. “The UFC threw me the No. 9 ranked flyweight, and I don’t understand it, given I’m the No. 1. I hope to fight one of the top-5 [flyweights]. I’m in no hurry to recover from my injury. I talked to my manager and asked him to ask the UFC to give me someone in the top 5 and let everybody else fight…
“Kai Kara-France is someone I want to fight but unfortunately he has a fight booked now,” said Figueiredo, referring to Kara-France’s June 3 clash with Amir Albazi. “And there’s also the guy that knocked out Matheus Nicolau, another great guy to fight me. I hope the UFC gives me one of those guys to fight me. I think I deserve it. I’m not asking for a title shot, I’m asking for someone in the top 5.”
