Fighters don't get paid by the hour and Deiveson Figueiredo is proof of that. Heading into his main event tilt against Alex Perez at UFC 255, six of his eight UFC wins had come inside the distance.
You can now make it seven of nine, as Figueiredo scored his second consecutive first-round submission with this one coming at the 1:57 mark to retain the flyweight championship at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“I promised my master I was going to do this,” Figueiredo said of winning via submission. “I trained for that and that’s exactly what happened.”
The fight began with Figueiredo and Perez exchanging heavy artillery on the feet. Perez tried for a takedown but was rebuffed by the champion. Figueiredo threw a kick, but Perez caught the leg, which led to a scramble that found the Brazilian immediately attempt a heel hook. Perez turned and went down to try and capitalize on Figueiredo being on the ground.
Instead, Figueiredo (20-1) snatched Perez's head and locked in the guillotine. Perez tried everything he could to escape. He got up to his knees, but Figueiredo squeezed harder. For a moment, Perez looked to be on his way to slipping out. Realizing that wasn't going to happen, Perez (24-6) tapped out, and Figueiredo successfully defended the belt for the first time and extended his winning streak to five.
UFC 255 results
- Deiveson Figueiredo def. Alex Perez via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:57 of the first round to retain the flyweight title
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Jennifer Maia by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
- Tim Means def. Mike Perry via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Katlyn Chookagian def. Cynthia Calvillo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Paul Craig def. Mauricio Rua via TKO at 3:36 of the second round
- Brandon Moreno def. Brandon Royval by TKO at 4:59 of the first round
- Joaquin Buckley def. Jordan Wright via knockout at 0:18 of the second round
- Antonina Shevchenko def. Ariane Lipski by TKO at 4:33 of the second round
- Nicolas Dalby def. Daniel Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Alan Jouban def. Jared Gooden by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Kyle Daukaus def. Dustin Stoltzfus via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Sasha Palatnikov def. Louis Cosce by TKO at 2:47 of the third-round TKO