Deiveson Figueiredo calls for ‘dream fight’ with Dominick Cruz for UFC 303

Deiveson Figueiredo | Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Deiveson Figueiredo wants to add another former UFC champion to his résumé next.

“Deus da Guerra” beat Cody Garbrandt in impressive fashion at UFC 300, scoring a second-round rear-naked choke finish to improve to 2-0 as a bantamweight. Now, he’s calling for a match with Dominick Cruz.

“People are throwing some names at me, but what I really want is to fulfill a dream of mine, which is to face Dominick Cruz,” Figueiredo told Canal Encarada. “Dominick has a big name and everybody knows the history he has in the UFC. He works for the UFC and is always on the spotlight, and I hope to one day get to fight him.”

Cruz, a former UFC and WEC bantamweight titleholder, earned back-to-back decision wins over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz before losing by knockout to Marlon Vera in his most recent appearance in August 2022.

Figueiredo went 11-3-1 as a UFC flyweight, with victories over the likes of Brandon Moreno, Alexandre Pantoja, Joseph Benavidez (twice), and Alex Perez.

“I think [Cruz] is an opponent that could take me to a title fight,” Figueiredo said.

Figueiredo, who trained for his UFC 300 bout alongside Bellator legends Patricio Pitbull and Patricky Pitbull in Brazil, stayed in Las Vegas a few extra days after the win to “do some recovery work” at the UFC Performance Institute and stay in shape in case UFC calls soon.

If he had the option, Figueiredo would book his next fight for UFC 303, which goes down June 29 in Las Vegas.

“I’m staying ready,” Figueiredo said. “For me, it would be sensational to fight on the [Conor] McGregor card in June. That depends on [Cruz] signing the contract, and I’ll be ready. I want to fight him. I want to make this fight happen.”