Deiveson Figueiredo declines to fight in Mexico, cites prejudiced fan comments

Immediately following UFC 270, Deiveson Figueiredo stated that he would fight Brandon Moreno again. However, he’s since backtracked a bit since his original comments.

The Brazilian said following his win over Moreno that he would fight him again, this time in Mexico. Since that original proclamation, he’s stated that he’ll only fight him again for $1 million dollars, and that a possible fourth fight won’t be held in Mexico.

In an interview with Combate, the UFC flyweight champion noted that fighting in Mexico is a bad idea. His reasoning is that fans there hate his coach Henry Cejudo, who’s Mexican. ‘Triple C’ has coached the Brazilian for the past year, and was in the corner for his win over Moreno.

The other reason is that he’s received various racist comments since his win over ‘The Assassin Baby’.

Mundo da Luta 171: Deiveson descarta luta no México: "Me chamaram de macaco" https://t.co/APhvLOo6iX pic.twitter.com/XbWmMy2QPL

— Combate (@combate) February 2, 2022

“If we fight in Mexico, we’re sure not to go out with Cejudo from there because people want his head in Mexico. We’re going to ask this fight for Brazil, or anywhere else, except Mexico. Even I don’t want to go there. Guys are pretty prejudiced too, some Mexicans come to me calling me “monkey” and stuff. Through that, I don’t want to fight in Mexico.” – said Figueiredo on the Mundo da Luta podcast.

Deiveson Figueiredo’s newest comments are a continued sign that he’s not keen on a fourth fight against Brandon Moreno. He’s openly stated that a fourth fight with the Mexican would be boring, and called the former champion a ‘crybaby‘. He’s instead targeted a bout with top contender Kai Kara-France.

UFC flyweights Deiveson Figueiredo and Kai Kara-France