Deiveson Figueiredo’s former manager, Wallid Ismail, isn’t staying quiet any longer.
The flyweight champion currently sits idle as the division moves along without him for the time being. At UFC 277 later this month, an interim champion will be crowned when former titleholder, Brandon Moreno, and top contender, Kai Kara-France, meet for the second time.
Figueiredo has been recovering from a hand injury since he reclaimed the title against Moreno in January. Having been very vocal about his feelings on an interim title’s creation, Figueiredo has threatened to move up to the bantamweight division as a result.
No longer keen on a historic fourth encounter with Moreno, Figueiredo has also demanded he starts getting more of what he deserves when it comes to his payouts. To best ensure this, Figueiredo parted ways with long-time manager, Wallid Ismail, and is now under the watch of UFC Hall of Famer, Urijah Faber. Figueiredo claimed that Ismail kept his hand injury a secret from the UFC and didn’t inform him that an interim belt was on the way.
“From the beginning, I didn’t want to speak out so as not to expose Deiveson,” Ismail told Sherdog. “I had informed Deiveson that the UFC would [create] the interim belt if he couldn’t fight until July. The UFC was aware that he was injured. I have conversations with matchmakers informing [them] about the injury. He made a statement in the press saying that he would only like to fight Kai Kara-France in October, although I asked him to fight Brandon Moreno again, as this would be the best fight for his career.
“He wants to look for someone to blame for his wrong decisions. I’m just speaking out because, although he apologized to me for lying that he didn’t know about the interim belt, now he’s back to lying, that I hadn’t warned the UFC about his injury. That’s a lack of character.”
Figueiredo’s first reign as UFC champion began in July 2020 when he defeated Joseph Benavidez via first-round rear-naked choke submission. “Deus Da Guerra” followed the performance up later in the year with a quick guillotine finish of Alex Perez before kicking off his rivalry against Moreno, earning a draw in what was a strong Fight of the Year contender.
A former fighter himself, Ismail (9-3) has always been one of the bigger personalities among managers. However, Figueiredo’s second reign as flyweight kingpin is certainly off to a more animated start and will surely be interesting to see unfold as things move forward.
“This vagabond has become a shameless bastard,” Ismail said. “First, he lied saying that I hadn’t warned him about the interim belt [the bastard told me he didn’t care]. The bastard apologized to me for lying. Now he’s telling another lie. You’re very naughty, Deiveson. I told the UFC that he was injured and could only fight in October. This bastard asked me to say that.”
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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ľudovít Klein (18-4) vs. Mason Jones (11-1, 1 NC); UFC London, July 23
Rafa Garcia (14-2) vs. Drakkar Klose (12-2-1); UFC 277, July 30
Yazmin Jauregui (8-0) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (13-4); UFC San Diego, Aug. 13
Gabriel Benitez (22-10) vs. Charlie Ontiveros (11-8); UFC San Diego, Aug. 13
Brendan Allen (19-5) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (24-5); UFC Fight Night, Oct. 1
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wallid and Deiveson should just fight … right?
Happy Friday, gang! Thanks for reading and I hope everyone except for Mike Heck enjoys the weekend!
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