Deiveson Figueiredo fights Joseph Benavidez for UFC Flyweight title on July 18

Top flyweight contender Deiveson Figueiredo will fight Joseph Benavidez in a rematch at UFC Fight Night card on July 18.

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 eas 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)