Deiveson Figueiredo calls out Merab Dvalishvili despite two-fight skid. The bantamweight division just got a little louder and more interesting. Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo has set his sights on the reigning bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili, boldly calling for a title shot despite enduring back-to-back losses.
Merab Dvalishvili’s reign as UFC Bantamweight Champion has been nothing short of remarkable. He captured the UFC bantamweight title in late 2024 by dethroning Sean O’Malley. He then submitted O’Malley in their rematch, and recently defeated Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision.
For Dvalishvili, the callout is just another chapter in what’s been an incredible rise. While the bantamweight champ has his sights set on a showdown with Petr Yan, Deiveson Figueiredo is quietly plotting his own path, hoping to fight his way back into the spotlight and earn a shot at Merab Dvalishvili’s crown. Figueiredo takes on Montel Jackson in the UFC Rio co-headliner. Speaking to UFC News ahead of fight night, the former flyweight champion said he wouldn’t mind being Dvalishvili’s next title challenger.
“That’s how I see myself, beating a guy who has a very good record,” Figueiredo told UFC News. “Merab is a guy who has fought with everyone in the (division), almost everyone, and won. Looking at the line over there, I’m the only one he hasn’t fought yet, and what took me out of that title fight with him were the two defeats I have suffered. Now I’m back, I’m ready to win. God willing, I’ll be the winner on Saturday, so that this fight can happen. I want to fight him, and I want the UFC to give me that opportunity.”
“The only challenge it poses for me is that he’s long and too tall, and he has sharp boxing,” Figueiredo said of Jackson. “But I’m a guy who really likes boxing. As I said, after my last fight, I continued training boxing, and he’s a guy who comes from wrestling, but I realize that in his last fight, I saw that he was taken down very easily. I’m a guy who has fought some great grapplers. I fought Cody Garbrandt. I fought an All-American wrestler. I defeated both of them.
“He’s a guy I’m just getting to know, even though he’s already had several fights in the UFC. I trained as if he were the best. I won’t underestimate him. He’s a guy with a good winning record, right? And I’m coming from two consecutive losses, but I know the mistakes I made that led to these two losses. Now my head is clear. It’s time to get myself back up, and on Saturday, show that I am the true ‘God of War.'”
For now, Merab Dvalishvili remains the immovable force and an engine that never slows down. But forr Deiveson Figueiredo, he wants to prove there’s still fire in his fight. Whether destiny brings them face-to-face or not, one thing is clear, the road to Dvalishvili’s throne is as demanding as ever, and only the truly relentless will make it to the end.
