What’s Next For Deiveson Figueiredo?
UFC 332 went down this past weekend (Sat., Oct. 3, 2026) inside Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues thanks to a record-setting night of knockouts. Among the batch of losers was Wang Cong, who came up short in her championship aspirations after being out-classed by Natalia Silva in the main event of the evening (recap here).
And King Green, who was was destroyed by Esteban Ribovics in the very first round (see it here). And let’s not forget about Ateba Gautier, who was also knocked out in the opening frame by Roman Kopylov (see it). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Deiveson Figueiredo.
Coming into his co-headlining bout against up-and-coming star, Payton Talbott, “Daico” was on the hunt for a much-needed win after dropping back-to-back contests to Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong. Overall, he had lost four of his last five, so he was in desperate need of a win to get a much-needed boost of confidence.
Unfortunately for “Daico,” things went from bad to worse very fast … literally.
From the jump, Talbott took advantage of his size and reach advantage to stun the former UFC Flyweight champion with a stiff shot. After briefly recovering, he ate a few more strikes from Talbott, who was relentless in his attack until he forced a stoppage just 130 seconds into the fight (see it here).
With the loss, Figueiredo has now lost three straight fights, which puts him in a tough spot this late in his career. The Brazilian bomber is 38 years of age, so he is slowing down a bit. Furthermore, the talent is only getting younger, faster and stronger, and Talbott, 28, is perfect proof of that.
Where the long-time veteran goes from here is unknown, though he has not ruled one more brutal weight cut down to Flyweight. That said, he wants to challenge division king, Joshua Van, but that is not going to happen anytime soon (if ever). If he does choose to drop down to 125 pounds he will have to work his way back up given his recent skid.
If he decides to stay at 135 for another go at it, perhaps a showdown against someone like Aiemann Zahabi is in order. Currently ranked No. 13, Zahabi was last seen getting his clock cleaned in highlight reel fashion by former UFC Bantamweight champion, Sean O’ Malley at UFC Freedom 250 this past summer (see it again here). That loss snapped his seven-fight win streak.
Both men need a win in the worst way, and they should not be expecting someone too high up in the rankings for their next challenge. The winner gets a much-needed win, confidence booster and breathing room, while the loser finds himself in a very deep hole.
Thoughts?