Joseph Benavidez Makes Quick Return to Face Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 233
Having recently lost a year and a half of his career to injury, Joseph Benavidez is making up for lost time making a quick turnaround for his next fight.
UFC officials on Tuesday announced that Benavidez would return to the Octagon at UFC 233 on Jan. 26, 2019, in Anaheim, Calif., to face Deiveson Figueiredo.
Benavidez (26-5) sat out the entire year of 2017 and missed much of 2018 with a knee injury. He returned at UFC 225 in June, losing a split decision to Sergio Pettis. He bounced back on Nov. 30 with a first-round stoppage of Alex Perez at the TUF 28 Finale in Las Vegas.
He'll make the quick two-month turnaround as he fights to keep the UFC flyweight division alive by taking on fellow championship contender Figueredo at UFC 233, where champion Henry Cejudo puts his 125-pound belt on the line against bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw in the main event.
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Figueiredo (15-0) has made an immediate impact since emerging in the Octagon while Benavidez was on the sidelines in 2017. Having defeated all four of his opponents, he has done so in impressive fashion, finishing three of them by way of knockout, a rarity in the flyweight division.
Figueiredo hopes to further etch his place among the UFC elite by taking out Benavidez, who has been a perennial contender for the better part of the past decade.
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