UFC 300’s Deiveson Figueiredo gunning for a KO against ‘mentally fragile’ Cody Garbrant: ‘He doesn’t have a good head’
Deiveson Figueiredo plans to exploit Cody Garbrandt’s “mentally fragile” state when the former champs clash at UFC 300.
Garbrandt suffered four brutal knockouts over the span of four years, going 1-5 in the process. According to Figueiredo, that string of devastating losses has left ‘No Love’ a shell of his former self.
“We see he’s mentally fragile,” Figueiredo said of Garbrandt during a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “He doesn’t have a good head. We see he hasn’t come back after having a few losses, right?”
Garbrandt climbed to the top of the bantamweight division in 2016, claiming the undisputed strap with a brilliant performance against Dominick Cruz at UFC 207. He followed that up with three consecutive knockout losses, including back-to-back defeats against T.J. Dillashaw and a first-round KO to Pedro Munhoz.
He has since bounced back, winning a unanimous decision against Trevin Jones before face-planting Brian Kelleher in the first round of their UFC 296 scrap.
“Every athlete fears getting touched,” Figueiredo continued. “Many fighters like the in-fight but crumble when a hand lands. You have to be a badass, you need a strong mind to come back again. I think I’ll affect his mind by touching him, and he’s going to respect me more.”
Deiveson Figueiredo plans on sending Cody Garbrandt home early on April 13
After closing out his classic quadrilogy with Brandon Moreno at the top of the flyweight division, Figueiredo made the move to bantamweight, dispatching Rob Font in his divisional debut late last year. Gunning for a shot at the 135-pound crown, ‘Deus da Guerra’ plans to make a statement when he and Garbrandt lead off the biggest UFC card of all time.
“I really want the knockout in this fight,” Figueiredo said. “This fight could lead me to a title, so I want to impress. It’s going to be an incredible fight. Cody moves a lot and gives his all in the first round, and I have that same aggressive style. It’s going to be an intense fight.”
Check out the official trailer for UFC 300 below:
