Injured UFC star reveals infection prior to devastating loss in Des Moines

One former UFC champion claims he was infected prior to his defeat this past weekend.

The UFC was back on the road for a Fight Night card in Des Moines. The event saw Bo Nickal suffer the first loss of his pro MMA career against Reinier de Ridder. There was also the main event flyweight clash between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. While “Figgy” had some moments in the fight, they were few and far between.

Ultimately, Sandhagen won the fight after Figueiredo suffered a knee injury when the two were jockeying for position on the ground. As it turns out, Figueiredo was dealing with medical issues pre-fight as well.

RELATED: WHAT’S NEXT FOR CORY SANDHAGEN AND DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO AFTER UFC DES MOINES?

Deiveson Figueiredo Reveals Pre-Fight Infection

During an interview with Ag Fight, Deiveson Figueiredo discussed a jaw injury he suffered during training camp that hindered his preparation for a month. Figueiredo claimed that once he was healed, he ended up suffering an infection due to cuts that he didn’t handle properly (translated via DeepL).

“I wasn’t 100% (at the time of the fight),” Figueiredo said. “Let me be very clear, I had three weeks off. I took a direct hit to the jaw and had a dislocated jaw. That prevented me from sparring hard for a month. So I kept doing positions, I kept doing gauntlet moves, to burn calories, so I wouldn’t be stuck. And in the final stretch, on the trip, I got some scratches defending a fall, I didn’t take care of it properly and it got infected.

“I traveled on Saturday night, at two in the morning, with a high fever, I spent Sunday with a fever, Monday with a fever and on Tuesday – the week of the fight – I still had a fever in the morning. I’ve got a bacterium in my leg, I’m still taking antibiotics – this bacterium caused my fever – and where you press with your finger there’s a hole in my leg.”

Figueiredo will need to go back to the drawing board after suffering his second loss in a row. Prior to the Sandhagen fight, Figueiredo suffered his first loss at bantamweight to Petr Yan. For now, the top priority for “Figgy” is ensuring that his knee gets proper medical care.