Fighters don't get paid by the hour and Deiveson Figueiredo is proof of that. Heading into his main event tilt against Alex Perez at UFC 255, six of his eight UFC wins had come inside the distance.
You can now make it seven of nine, as Figueiredo scored his second consecutive first-round submission with this one coming at the 1:57 mark to retain the flyweight championship at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“I promised my master I was going to do this,” Figueiredo said of winning via submission. “I trained for that and that’s exactly what happened.”
The fight began with Figueiredo and Perez exchanging heavy artillery on the feet. Perez tried for a takedown but was rebuffed by the champion. Figueiredo threw a kick, but Perez caught the leg, which led to a scramble that found the Brazilian immediately attempt a heel hook. Perez turned and went down to try and capitalize on Figueiredo being on the ground.
Instead, Figueiredo (20-1) snatched Perez's head and locked in the guillotine. Perez tried everything he could to escape. He got up to his knees, but Figueiredo squeezed harder. For a moment, Perez looked to be on his way to slipping out. Realizing that wasn't going to happen, Perez (24-6) tapped out, and Figueiredo successfully defended the belt for the first time and extended his winning streak to five.