Deiveson Figueiredo stopped at UFC 332

Payton Talbott defeated Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC 332 bantamweight co-main event, ending the contest by TKO from strikes at 2:09 of the first round. The bout was held Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, with Jason Herzog serving as referee. Talbott’s finish followed an early straight right that stunned Figueiredo, though the former flyweight champion got back to his feet and continued fighting before the final exchange.

The matchup carried different stakes for both men. Figueiredo entered with a 25-7-1 record, two UFC flyweight championships and the No. 11 spot at 135 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. At 38, he had lost two consecutive fights and four of his previous five, giving the bantamweight meeting added importance. Talbott, listed at 11-1, arrived after winning five of his first six UFC appearances. His UFC run had included a loss to Raoni Barcelos before decision victories over Felipe Lima and former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.

Talbott’s strikes decide the opening round

Talbott established his approach quickly. He opened with a jab and began targeting Figueiredo’s head, then landed a straight right that stunned Figueiredo. Figueiredo returned to his feet while Talbott kept advancing. As Figueiredo fired back, he ducked toward a leg and nearly absorbed an intercepting knee. The exchange then moved into the clinch. Figueiredo locked his hands around Talbott’s body, but Talbott turned into him and they worked along the fence. Talbott eventually shook free, landing several major punches and then an elbow. Figueiredo continued attempting to answer with strikes, but Talbott timed further shots. More damaging punches landed, and Herzog halted the contest. The official ruling was a first-round TKO by strikes for Talbott at 2:09. The result came after Figueiredo had survived the initial right hand and created a body-lock sequence, but Talbott regained distance and kept landing in the closing stretch.

Figueiredo’s recent bantamweight path framed the result. His move up in weight began with three UFC wins, before defeats against Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen. He then earned a decision over Montel Jackson, a fight described as uneventful, but later suffered two additional losses. One was a decision defeat to Umar Nurmagomedov in a bout where Figueiredo missed weight. The other was a recent submission loss to Song Yadong. The Talbott fight therefore came as Figueiredo sought to reverse a difficult stretch while maintaining his place among the ranked fighters at 135 pounds.

Figueiredo’s bantamweight run before UFC 332

The UFC 332 contest added another loss to Figueiredo’s recent results at bantamweight. Before facing Talbott, the two-time UFC flyweight champion had gone from three straight victories in his new division to losses against Yan and Sandhagen, followed by the Montel Jackson decision win. His subsequent defeats to Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong left him with two straight losses entering Saturday’s co-main event. The Nurmagomedov bout had the additional detail of Figueiredo missing weight, while the Song Yadong defeat came by submission. Against Talbott, the setback was recorded differently: a first-round TKO caused by strikes. Figueiredo began the fight ranked No. 11 at 135 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and brought a 25-7-1 record into the cage. Talbott entered as a prospect with an 11-1 record and five wins in his first six UFC fights. After his loss to Barcelos, he had responded with decision wins over Lima and Cejudo. The meeting with Figueiredo matched Talbott against an opponent with UFC championship experience and a lengthy record of competition at the highest level.

• Talbott stunned Figueiredo with a straight right after opening with a jab, but Figueiredo got back up and later secured a body lock.
• After turning into Figueiredo along the fence, Talbott separated, landed punches and an elbow, and forced the stoppage with further strikes.

Talbott’s victory over Figueiredo was officially logged as a TKO by strikes at 2:09 of the opening round. An early straight right put Figueiredo in trouble, but he returned to his feet, threw back and secured a body lock before Talbott separated and resumed his offense. Punches, an elbow and further damaging strikes followed, prompting Herzog to stop the UFC 332 co-main event. For Figueiredo, the result arrived during a pivotal period after two straight losses and four defeats in five fights.