After Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1) dispatched Alex Perez within two minutes of the first round Saturday night at UFC 255, UFC president Dana White announced his intentions to turn the champ around just 21 days later at UFC 256. And that appears to be the case, with ESPN reporting Figueiredo will defend his flyweight title against Brandon Moreno (18-5-1), who also made quick work at UFC 255 with a first-round knockout of Brandon Royval.
“We’re going to keep (Figueiredo) here,” White said at the post-fight news conference, per MMA Junkie. “He’s not going back to Brazil. We’re going to turn him right around (in) December. That’s what we’re working on.”
Less than 24 hours later and Figueiredo and Moreno have verbally agreed to the fight, which makes UFC history as the quickest turnaround for a champion and/or challenger in a UFC title fight, per ESPN.
Moreno is 4-0-1 in his last five bouts with the knockout Saturday night, three decisions and a draw. Figueiredo has been dominant since losing the only fight of his career in March of last year to Jussier Formiga. After missing weight in his initial bout with Joseph Benavidez in February, Figueiredo submitted Benavidez to win the division crown in July. With the fight in December, that means he’ll fight four times in 2020, the most of his career.
Figueiredo-Moreno will likely serve as the co-main event of UFC 256 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which is currently slated to be headlined by Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title.