Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Payton Talbott at UFC 332: A Former Champion Fighting for His Place
The UFC 332 co-main event is a fight about whether a former champion still belongs near the top of a division.
Deiveson Figueiredo faces Payton Talbott at bantamweight on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Both made weight, Figueiredo at 135 and Talbott at 135.5, inside the one-pound allowance for non-title bouts.
Figueiredo’s Recent Form Is the Story
Figueiredo is ranked ninth at 135 pounds with a record of 25-7-1. He is a former UFC flyweight champion, which is the accomplishment that defines him, and he has reportedly gone 1-4 in his last five fights, which is the number that defines where he is now.
One win in five goes well beyond a rough patch. That is a fighter whose body has absorbed a decade of weight cuts and wars, moving up a division to find relief that has not arrived.
He is still ranked, still dangerous, and still carrying knockout power that does not leave a fighter the way speed does.
Talbott Is the Younger, Hungrier Side of It
Talbott is ranked 12th and 11-1. He is the fighter the UFC has been building, and this is the kind of matchup promotions make when they want a prospect to acquire a name on his record.
That framing is also the trap. Figueiredo has fought and beaten elite fighters at the highest level. A prospect who walks in assuming the former champion is finished tends to find out in the first round that championship power does not expire on schedule.
Why This Is the Right Co-Main
The main event is a vacant women’s flyweight title fight between Natalia Silva and Wang Cong, and Silva is a heavy favorite by reputation. A card needs a second fight with genuine uncertainty, and this is it.
Styles matter here. Figueiredo wins with power and grappling in short bursts. Talbott wins with volume and movement over 15 minutes. One of those approaches is more reliable at 135 pounds and the other is more likely to end things in 90 seconds.
The Pick
Talbott should win a decision, and the honest handicap is that this is closer to a coin flip than the rankings suggest. If Figueiredo lands clean inside the first two rounds, the fight is over, and he has built an entire career on landing clean.
The case for Talbott is simple arithmetic. He is younger, he has not been through title fights at a lower weight class, and his opponent has lost four of five.
The Bigger Card Context
UFC 332 is the first UFC main card to air on CBS, with the main card at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and CBS. Also on the main card: King Green against Esteban Ribovics at catchweight after Ribovics missed weight, Roberto Soldic making his UFC debut against Khaos Williams, and Ateba Gautier against Roman Kopylov.
Figueiredo’s exact UFC record at bantamweight and the betting odds for this bout have not been confirmed in the available reporting.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
