If you don’t feel at least a little bit for Joseph Benavidez after his loss to Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday night, you might not have a soul.
For years, Benavidez has found great success at both bantamweight and flyweight, amassing 20 victories in his Zuffa career between the WEC and UFC.
But four of his six career losses have been title fights. And his loss at UFC on ESPN+ 27 just might have been his final opportunity to call himself a champion.
Which made Benavidez’s in-cage interview with Michael Bisping following his second-round TKO loss all the more tough to watch.
“I feel like this isn’t real right now, that I’m in some freakin’ nightmare,” a disconsolate Benavidez said.
He managed to gather his thoughts from there and put his best spin on things.
“Everyone is going through ups and downs everywhere, this is mine, it’s on display. Lucky to be alive I guess, but I worked my ass off for that and it didn’t go great.”
You can watch Benavidez’s postfight interview in the video below:
UFC on ESPN+ 27 took place Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streamed on ESPN+.
Heartbroken Joseph Benavidez 'in some freakin' nightmare' after another title-fight loss