Deiveson Figueiredo wants Joseph Benavidez for interim flyweight title after UFC Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. – Deiveson Figueiredo beat Tim Elliott with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN+ 19 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Take a look inside the fight with Figueiredo, who has back-to-back wins after a loss to Jussier Formiga in March and has hopes for an interim flyweight title fight against Joseph Benavidez with champion Henry Cejudo still on the shelf.

Result: Deiveson Figueiredo def. Tim Elliott via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:08
Updated records: Figueiredo (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), Elliott (15-9-1 MMA, 4-7 UFC)
Key stat: Elliott outstruck Figueiredo 33-8 and landed a takedown – but Figueiredo caught him in the guillotine to put the fight away.

Figueiredo on the fight’s key moment

“I knew he was going to try to take me down, and I trained a lot for the guillotine to submit him. When he tried to take me down, I got the guillotine.”

Figueiredo on criticism he held the choke too long

“The excitement of the fight – when I saw the (referee stop it), I let it go. If the (ref) says to stop, I’ll stop – and I did. It was the excitement of the fight.”

Figueiredo on what he wants next

“The next one needs to be Benavidez. He was supposed to fight me last year. He thought I was afraid, but I was hurt and couldn’t take the fight. Now I want Benavidez to pay for what he said. I want to knock him out so he can’t talk trash again, I want people to see that he is a liar. Why wouldn’t we do the interim belt now? Cejudo isn’t going to come back until the middle of next year. Fight me for the interim belt now. I can go as soon as Benavidez wants. When is he ready? I am ready now. Next month, next year, whatever – I am ready. He can’t be scared after what he said. Now is the time to prove who is afraid of who. This is the fight business, not the talk business, so let’s fight.”

To hear more from Figueiredo, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.