Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo will meet for a high-class bantamweight main event at a UFC Fight Night, set for the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday.
Sandhagen (17-5) comes into this match on the back of a unanimous decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August last year. The 33-year-old ‘Sandman’ had racked up three straight wins over Song Yadong, Marlon Vera and Rob Font prior to that defeat.
The Colorado-born fighter believes that an emphatic win in this match will put him on course to challenge for the bantamweight championship.
“I think this year is going to be a really good year for me. Hopefully I’ll get in three fights and one of them will be a championship fight,” explained Sandhagen.
“That might be a little optimistic, but that’s what I’m going to shoot for. I’m just excited to get back in. I think that I’m going to look great against a guy like Figgy. I do really well against guys that are hunting for a shot to finish the fight.
“With Figgy you have to worry about submissions and knockout, but I do really well against those guys and I think it’s going to be a fight where I can look really dynamic and put on a really masterful performance.”
Figueiredo (24-4-1), a former two-time flyweight world champion, suffered a unanimous decision loss to Petr Yan in November last year – his first defeat at bantamweight after three successive wins over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera.
The 37-year-old Brazilian is happy to be fighting in a heavier weight class after years of grinding in the flyweight division.
“I fought at 125 [lbs, 56.7 kg] for a long time, and it was really rough on my body,” Figueiredo said. “Now I feel great in this new division. My body and mind are healthy, and I feel really strong in this division. I feel great here.”
The rest of the main card features Reinier de Ridder v Bo Nickal in the middleweight division; a welterweight clash between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Daniel Rodriguez; bantamweight battles pit Montel Jackson and Cameron Smotherman against Daniel Marcos and Serhey Sidey respectively; and the lightweight opener is between Jeremy Stephens and Mason Jones.
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Figueiredo – Main card
- Main event: Bantamweight: Cory Sandhagen v Deiveson Figueiredo
- Middleweight: Reinier de Ridder v Bo Nickal
- Welterweight: Santiago Ponzinibbio v Daniel Rodriguez
- Bantamweight: Montel Jackson v Daniel Marcos
- Bantamweight: Cameron Smotherman v Serhey Sidey
- Lightweight: Jeremy Stephens v Mason Jones