Derek Cleary saw it 48-46 in favor of the flyweight champion, but Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo made it a majority draw by scoring it 47-47. “Deus da Guerra” still left the octagon as the 125-pound champion, but now feels unsatisfied with the result.
“Analyzing every round, I won all rounds,” Figueiredo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened for them not to give me the [win]. There was that point deduction, but even with a draw in that round I still won all rounds. Now I’ll go back for this rematch and break Moreno so there is no doubt anymore.”
Referee Jason Herzog took a point away from the champion for a low blow in the third, making that round a 9-9 on all scorecards. All three judges agreed that Moreno won the fourth round, but D’Amato gave the challenger the advantage on round two, and Kamijo saw round five for Moreno, resulting in a draw.
“I didn’t give him one single round,” Figueiredo disagreed. “I walked forward the entire time, attacking Moreno. I had an immediate answer for every attack he gave. To me, in my concept, I won all five rounds.”
The UFC plans on booking an immediate rematch as soon as both flyweights are cleared to compete again after going to war for five rounds just 21 days after their previous wins over Alex Perez and Brandon Royval at UFC 255. Figueiredo doesn’t mind running it back even though he thinks he should’ve won.
“I want this rematch so it leaves no doubt,” Figueiredo said. “I want to be well and show my work. That guy that fought Moreno, that wasn’t me. He can be sure of that. I’ll train hard for him now and it will be a completely different fight.”
Figueiredo calls it the “toughest fight of my career” because he had to spend a night in the hospital before defending his belt at the UFC APEX.
“I had that infection that almost took me out of the fight,” Figueiredo said. “My father taught me to be a man and I didn’t want to pull out. I said to myself, I want to fight and bring this win home.
“I was warming up and had no idea what would happen in this fight. I had a feeling it would be a tough one because that infection completely took me out of the game. Inside me I knew I wouldn’t be able to be the fighter I am. I like to finish people, but something inside of me said it wouldn’t be easy — and that’s what really happened.”
The Brazilian flyweight still isn’t sure what exactly caused his pre-fight issues, but says he started to feel bad after having a noodle soup with boiled egg given to him by the UFC Performance Institute.
“My intestine stopped working and I started to feel some pain half an hour later,” he said. “I was in the conference room where Dana [White] talks about the bonuses and I had to get up and leave, and I stopped in the hallway and tried to throw up. They called the doctor and he gave me medicine for the pain, and it helped a little.
“I tried to get some sleep at 6 p.m. and when I woke up, I told my corners that I couldn’t take it anymore. Wallid [Ismail] called the doctor and he said we had to go to the hospital to do more exams and see how I was. That’s when we realized that the athletic commission could take me off the card if we went to the doctor, but we still decided to go.”
Figueiredo was told he had to do a colon cleanse since he couldn’t defecate. He went back to the hotel at 2 a.m. feeling better “with my belly full of wind.”
”I spent the night awake,” Figueiredo said. “I only slept at 6 a.m. and felt sleepy all day. I woke up at 11 a.m. to train but almost couldn’t warm up, still in pain, and went back to bed. ‘Maizena’ woke me up at 5 p.m. to have have some breakfast, he said I had to ‘reactivate’ because I was too sleepy.
“I went back to my bedroom to prepare to go to the fight at 7. I was crestfallen, full of wind in the stomach, but I was in the game. No way I would let that fight fall through, brother. I gave them my word. I was sick, but I still went there and give them the Fight of the Night.”
Both Figueiredo and Moreno were given possible six-month medical suspensions by the Nevada Athletic Commission, with the champion needing a follow-up on a possible broken toe on his right foot and an MRI of his right bicep. Both are fine, Figueiredo said, but he’s still dealing with eye issues.
“I’m still visiting a doctor because my right eye got really hurt,” said Figueiredo, who expects to be cleared to leave Belem for his hometown Soure on Monday. “My vision is still a bit blurry because of the jabs I took, but the biceps and feet are fine. I believe the eye infection got worse because of the pressure on the airplane when I travelled back from the United States.”
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