Deiveson Figueiredo wins UFC flyweight belt on Fight Island

Deiveson Figueiredo needed three knockdowns and four deep rear-naked choke attempts in a wild opening round before winning the main event of the UFC on ESPN+ 30 card in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Figueiredo eventually proved to be too much for Joseph Benavidez, capturing the vacant flyweight title by technical submission with 12 seconds remaining in the first period.

“I wanted to come here and take this belt to my people and my city,” the Brazilian said. “I’m the champion. I’m going to be a very hard time for anyone who comes after me.”

He sent a message to any future challengers by manhandling the veteran Las Vegan, who fell to 0-4 in UFC title fights.

Benavidez somehow fought his way through the first three submission attempts, but Figueiredo was relentless and locked in a tight choke that rendered Benavidez unconscious.

“I’m used to growing up with wild animals and I think I got some of that from them,” said the new champion, a 32-year-old from a small town at the mouth of the Amazon River. “I’m a ferocious guy in the octagon.”

Figueiredo is now 8-1 in the UFC and has won four straight. He missed out on winning the belt when he missed weight for his matchup against Benavidez in February, even though Figueiredo won by second-round knockout. Then he faced a lengthy quarantine in Brazil last week before traveling to Abu Dhabi because of a false positive coronavirus test.

Figueiredo eventually made it to “Fight Island” and faced a quarantine that didn’t expire until shortly before weigh-ins on Saturday.

“I worked really hard for this,” he said. “I knew my time was going to come and this is my time.”

Benavidez, 35, is 15-1 in nontitle fights since entering the UFC in 2011, with the lone loss coming by split decision. He had never been submitted as a pro.

“I’ve been saying all week I’d finish the fight in the first round and I wanted to put that first submission loss on his record,” Figueiredo said. “That’s exactly what I did.”

Middleweight contender Jack Hermansson pulled off a submission of his own as he won for the fifth time in six fights. Hermansson locked in a heel hook from his back just 1:18 into the first round as Kelvin Gastelum was trying to get back to his feet from top position.

“Obviously it was a mistake for him,” Hermansson said. “I’m very dangerous on the ground. I think that he is comfortable with his top game, but people don’t know how much I have from the ground because I’m not so much on my back in my fights. Now they have a clue.”

Hermansson said he hopes to return to action soon against the winner of next week’s main event in Abu Dhabi between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till.

The preliminary card was highlighted by Iraq native Amir Albazi’s first-round submission of Malcolm Gordon in his UFC debut.

Albazi’s family fled Iraq when he was 7, landing in Sweden and eventually relocating to England. He took the fight with less than two weeks to prepare and returned to the Middle East for the biggest win of his fighting career.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.