‘You’re Very Naughty, Deiveson’

Longtime MMA manager Wallid Ismail is PISSED.

Not because UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo dumped him in favor of former WEC champion Urijah Faber, but rather because “Daico” was telling the combat sports media that Ismail was withholding information and thereby sabotaging his career.

“From the beginning I didn’t want to speak out so as not to expose Deiveson,” Ismail said (via Sherdog.com). “I had informed Deiveson that UFC would [create] the interim belt if he couldn’t fight until July. The UFC was aware that he was injured. I have conversations with matchmakers informing [them] about the injury. He made a statement in the press saying that he would only like to fight Kai Kara France in October, although I asked him to fight Brandon Moreno again, as this would be the best fight for his career.”

Figueiredo (21-2-1) recaptured his flyweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Brandon Moreno at UFC 270 back in January, moving his record against “The Assassin Baby” to 1-1-1 across three fights. But injuries — and his “embarrassing” fight purse — kept the Brazilian on the bench, forcing the promotion to create a “bullshit” interim title.

So who’s to blame? Depends on who you ask.

“He wants to look for someone to blame for his wrong decisions,” Ismail continued. “That’s a lack of character. This vagabond has become a shameless bastard. First he lied saying I hadn’t warned him about the interim belt (the bastard told me he didn’t care). The bastard apologized to me for lying, now he’s telling another lie. You’re very naughty, Deiveson. I told UFC that he was injured and could only fight in October. This bastard asked me to say that.”

In his absence, Moreno will fight Kara France for the interim flyweight title as part of the upcoming UFC 277 pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 30 at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas, with the winner (hopefully) fighting “Daico” to unify the 125-pound title later this year.

To see who else is fighting at UFC 277 click here.