Home Articles Deiveson Figueiredo tests Covid-19 positive ahead of rematch against Joseph Benavidez

Deiveson Figueiredo tests Covid-19 positive ahead of rematch against Joseph Benavidez

Deiveson Figueiredo is the latest fighter to test positive for Covid-19, thereby possibly jeopardising his upcoming title fight against Joseph Benavidez.

The pair are scheduled to fight at UFC Fight Night card on July 18. Deiveson Figueiredo’s manager Wallid Ismail stated that his client was slated to fly from Sao Paulo to Abu Dhabi, but following the positive test, he won’t be flying now.

He blamed his client’s positive result on the test and slated that Deiveson  Figueiredo had COVID-19, two-months ago, but had tested negative after.

Feb 29, 2020; Norfolk, Virginia, USA; Joseph Benavidez (red gloves) fights Deiveson Figueiredo (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Chartway Arena. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

“He couldn’t have tested positive because he had COVID two months ago,” Ismail said.

The pair previously fought at UFC Fight Night in February earlier this year. In their first meeting, Deiveson Figueiredo defeated Benavidez via TKO in the second round. The fight will be a part of Fight Island which is a four UFC event taking place at the Yas Islands in Abu Dhabi.


The first fight which took place in Norfolk for the vacant flyweight title. However, Deiveson Figueiredo couldn’t win the title despite knocking out Joseph Benavidez because he came in two and a half-pound over the flyweight limit. The missed weight immediately made Figueiredo ineligible for the title.

Deiveson Figueiredo is also coming off of a three-fight winning streak and he has the momentum on his side. On the other hand, Joseph Benavidez was on a three-fight winning streak when he was knocked out in his last fight.

Deiveson Figueiredo had fifteen pounds advantage over Joseph Benavidez

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Joseph Benavidez said that weight played an important factor in their first fight as he believes that the Brazilian had a fifteen-pound weight advantage over him.

Missing weight doesn’t come down to a one-pound or a two-pound difference, whatever people talk about,” Benavidez said. “It’s a lot more than that. He was walking around so big and was undisciplined for weeks before that. To get to the weight we’re going to like we’re supposed to professionally that day, it takes weeks of transforming your body. If you don’t do that and you’re not putting in the work to start transforming your body, that’s when you start missing weight.

For him, it wasn’t the one or two pounds. It was him walking around at 150 the week before, therefore probably going into the cage at 150. Me, knowing I had to get to 125 safely, I was walking around at about 140. So when we got into the cage, he had something like a 15-pound advantage, which is three weight classes.”  (H/T – Yahoo Sports)

UFC Fight Night: Deiveson Figueiredo vs Joseph Benavidez Full Fight Card

Main Card 

  • Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez – vacant flyweight title fight
  • Jack Hermansson vs. Kelvin Gastelum
  • Marc Diakiese vs. Rafael Fiziev
  • Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina
  • Alexandre Pantoja vs. Askar Askarov

Preliminary Card 

  • Roman Dolidze vs. Khadis Ibragimov
  • Grant Dawson vs. Nad Narimani
  • Joe Duffy vs. Joel Alvarez
  • Brett Johns vs. Montel Jackson
  • Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Alexander Doskalchuk
  • Davi Ramos vs. Arman Tsarukyan
  • Carlos Felipe vs. Serghei Spivac

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