Deiveson Figueiredo will make his bantamweight debut on Dec. 2, battling top-ranked Rob Font at UFC’s return to Minneapolis, and he revealed on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocação Franca that he’s nearing the end of his MMA career.
“Deus da Guerra” has fought professionally for just over a decade and has put on great battles inside the octagon, besting high-level opponents such as Alexandre Pantoja, Brandon Moreno and Joseph Benavidez to reach the top of the flyweight mountain, and the clock is ticking.
“I have three more years ahead of me before retiring,” Figueiredo said. “In the name of Jesus, I want to always, always, always put on great fights for the audience for as long as I’m in action, you can be sure of that.”
Figueiredo, 35, said “sometimes we set plans for our lives and God wants something else,” but he wants to be done “by 38 or 39 to enjoy my family” and pass on his knowledge to hometown kids that dream to one day become MMA fighters.
“I want to live a bit of what I haven’t yet,” he explained. “I’m a kid that have always worked since I got involved with MMA. I wasn’t born in a wealthy family, you know? I was born in Soure, Marajo, and was raised in a farm. My father was a cowherd and always worked in a farm, and one day he realized that he was hurting us, so he took us to the city to study. I’ve studied until I was 18 but always went back to the farm to help my father and take care of animals until I found out about MMA.
“Thank God I’ve achieved a lot through MMA. Look where I am now, in the United States. A kid that left Marajo, a simple town and the farm, and is in the United States now, fighting in the world’s biggest organization, giving my best to MMA fans and changing my family’s story through fighting. And thank God I can help support my family now.”
Not exactly his BW debut…
As he fought as a BW 3 yrs ago against little
Mr Megan Olivi