Joseph Benavidez is hoping to not only become UFC flyweight champion tonight (July 18), but he wants to embarrass Deiveson Figueiredo.
Back in February, Benavidez and Figueiredo competed in a bout that was supposed to crown a new flyweight champion. Figueiredo missed weight, so a new title holder would’ve only been crowned had Benavidez won. Figueiredo ended up scoring a second-round TKO victory.
Joseph Benavidez Says Deiveson Figueiredo Rematch Goes Beyond UFC Gold
Going into the rematch, the narrative has been centered around the effectiveness of Figueiredo’s accidental headbutt. Benavidez hasn’t appreciated Figueiredo downplaying the accidental blow and he told ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto that he wants to make the Brazilian bruiser pay.
“I guess the easiest way to put it is that fighting is fighting, it goes sometimes with hurting people. That’s part of the game. You don’t want to, you just know, “I have to hurt this guy, he’s trying to hurt me.” What I felt after the last fight and the way it went about, not necessarily in the most fair way, it just makes me actually want to hurt him. Fighting is hurting people, but it makes me want to hurt him. I want you to hurt. I want you to feel dizzy when you get up every day and not know if your concussions are going to go away. I want you to freaking cry and be embarrassed and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, that is a different feeling towards this fight. Typically I don’t have that toward an opponent. I’m like, “Hey if I win, I win. If I hurt him, obviously that’s what we’re trained to do.” But for this one, that’s the difference.”
UFC on ESPN+ 30 will take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. This will be the UFC’s third event on its “Fight Island” trip. The other two were UFC 251 and UFC on ESPN 13. Figueiredo vs. Benavidez II will be the last title bout on “Fight Island,” at least for this trip.
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