Watch: Deiveson Figueiredo wins bantamweight debut, nearly finishes Rob Font at UFC Austin
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, December 2, 2023, for UFC Austin, going down live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Headlining the event is a lightweight affair between a pair of top contenders in no. 4 ranked Beneil Dariush (22-5-1) and no. 8 ranked Arman Tsarukyan (20-3).
Co-headlining the event was also a lightweight encounter, this one coming between no. 12 ranked Jalin Turner (13-7) and no. 13 ranked Bobby Green (31-14-1). Green was originally slated to face no. 9 ranked Dan Hooker in tonight’s co-main event, and it was to be the first ever co-main non title bout in UFC history to be slated for five rounds.
Our feature fight of the evening came in the bantamweight division showcasing no. 8 ranked Rob Font (20-8), who welcomed former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (22-3-1) to 135 lbs for the very first time in his career tonight.
Font, following a first round knockout victory over Adrian Yanez earlier this year in April, came into the bout off a defeat to no. 4 ranked Cory Sandhagen in August. Figueiredo on the other hand last fought in January, where he lost his title to Brandon Moreno; all four of his latest appearances came against Moreno, going 1-2-1 in those bouts.
Continue reading to see how our feature fight of the evening went down:
Official Result: Deiveson Figueiredo def. Rob Font via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
After a timid start, Figueiredo secures a nice single leg takedown about 90 seconds into the bout, though Font returns right back to his feet. Fig then times a beautiful double leg midway through the round, Font again returning to his feet quickly.
It appears Font had found his range three minutes into the bout, until Figueiredo lands a hard right hand that wobbles him.
Figueiredo continues to secure takedowns in round two, though Font gets back to his feet each time; he’s really tightened up that part of his game. Not much offense was given up in the second. The round does however end with a good two-punch combination followed by a barrage of punches from the former flyweight champion.
Though Figueiredo appeared to be ahead going into round three, the fight was still very close. That wasn’t the case after round three was said and done. Figueiredo hurts Font badly with a left hook, following up with an onslaught of punches in attempt to secure the finish, landing many of them.
Figueiredo stops swinging however and backs up, Font following him right into another perfectly timed takedown, only this time Font didn’t get up so quickly.
Figueiredo secures mount for a time and reigned down some good punches from top position before Font finally worked in a butterfly hook and then a second to regain his guard. He was able to get back to his feet in the final seconds but it was too late.
Deiveson Figueiredo is one of the best bantamweights in the world, and considering we’d only seen him fight at flyweight until now, that’s a very exciting thought.
I think it’s safe to say Deiveson Figueiredo is going to be a problem for anyone at 135 #UFCAustin pic.twitter.com/B6A3n7WP2s
— 𝐉𝐚𝐲🤼 (@JayMMA4) December 3, 2023
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