So much for Deiveson Figueiredo’s move up to bantamweight – at least for now.
A flyweight bout between Figueiredo, the former UFC champion, and Manel Kape is in the works for UFC 290 on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Junkie on Wednesday following an initial report from ESPN Deportes.
The fight booking comes as a bit of a shocker after Figueiredo, 35, announced he would move up to 135 pounds immediately following his title-fight loss to Brandon Moreno in their tetralogy this past January at UFC 283. Figueiredo’s declaration has garnered multiple callouts from bantamweights – including Rob Font just this week – awaiting his arrival to the division. But that’s on hold now.
Kape will be Figueiredo’s first new opponent since a submission win over Alex Perez in November 2020. After that, Figueiredo and Moreno would fight four consecutive times with one draw, a win for Figueiredo, and two wins for Moreno.
After losing the first two fights of his UFC tenure, Kape (18-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is on a three-fight winning streak. He finished Ode Osbourne and Zhalgas Zhumagulov before most recently claiming a unanimous decision David Dvorak this past December at UFC Fight Night 216.
With the addition, the UFC 290 lineup includes:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez – for featherweight title
- Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja – for flyweight title
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Manel Kape
- Tresean Gore vs. Bo Nickal
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
