MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC 255 Bonus Interviews: Devieson Figueiredo, Valentina Shevchenko, Alex Perez & Jennifer Maia

Episode Date: November 18, 2020

Brian Campbell sat down with Deiveson Figueiredo (3:56), Valentina Shevchenko (13:56), Alex Perez (29:10) and Jennifer Maia (39:38) ahead of their UFC 255 matchups. --------------------------------- 'Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit: store.sho.com   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat  To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

you hear that paid and done that's the sound of bills being paid on time but with the bimo eclipse rise visa card paying your bills could sound like this yes earn rewards for paying your bill in full and on time each month rise to rewards with the bimo Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. Oh, yeah, it's your boy, BC, back at it. Hey, call me BBC, the beige one. One half, of course, of your morning combat duo. And that's why you're here deep, deep in your ear hole. It's MK back at it.

MK all day. Good Lord, nearly every single day. And of course you know that we are setting the stage for Saturday's UFC 255 pay-per-view card from Las Vegas. Hey, you know, not the deepest card of all time. That's certainly for sure. But two interesting flyweight title bouts atop the marquee. One on the men's side. One on the women's side. we got all four competitors today with me

bc uh let's do it right i mean why not right you know of course um subscribe to the pod whether you only take this in uh uh orally eerily wow. Wow. Wow. All right. Whether you listen through the headphones or you watch it on the YouTube, however you do it, subscribe, tell your friends, spread the word. Let's go. Let's make it happen. All right. Here's what we got right now coming at you.

We're going to go in this order, getting you fired up. And, of course, it begins with that main event, the Men's Flyweight Championship. Devison Figueiredo, the champion from brazil he's going to be sliding in first we're talking a lot about that swagger that he's got going and if you're not going to be able to watch the video version of this uh you're going to see you're going to see you're going to hear a short a shirtless figueredo dark sunglasses wild, red stripe through it. He's going to tell you about the origin of that swagger and why he is afraid of no one, whether that's Cody Garbrandt cutting back down to try this once again

or it's Henry Cejudo one day coming back. Who knows? It's the Davidson-Figurado era beginning now, according to the champ. We're also, of course, going to hear right after that from Valentina Shevchenko, your women's flyweight champion. Oddsmakers basically ever not losing ever again in this division. She's going to talk about whether that's pressure. Talk about that Inca cola, right?

The little champagne drink that she markets from time to time down there in Peru. And life as the Shevchenko sisters. We love them, all right? That's what it is. They're going to be fighting as the Shevchenko sisters. We love them. All right? That's what it is. They're going to be fighting on the same card on Saturday night. Then we're going to welcome in Alex Perez, who the phone rang. He picked it up. He's got that big opportunity against Figueredo.

He could change his fortunes and his life overnight. And he's 7-1 entering in, coming from the Contender Series all the way to the title level now. So you love hearing that story of how we got here and all that and then we close with jennifer maya and shout out to the translators here that ufc provided uh she's a hungry young top contender and not afraid not afraid of the odds not afraid of anything ready to go in there and prove that valentina is in fact human so that's the order coming at you right now.

Enjoy that. You're not already woke to what we're doing. It's the morning combat revolution. It's MKUltra, brainwashing your senses every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Live show, 11 a.m. Eastern. And if you can't catch it live, you're listening to it here. But don't be sleeping on our bonus content. We had great interviews last week with everyone from Terrence Crawford and Kell Brook to Rafael Dos Anjos, Teofimo Lopez, Kevin Nash

the WWE Hall of Famer we always got something for you so be on the lookout for that Luke's live chat all the dissected you can handle maybe I'll come out with one called bro sected what do you what do you think about that all right yeah all right hey it's bc uh uh serving it up a little bit more bc coming at you okay the beige one the ufc stars that's why we do this okay get you fired up for the fights yes thank you all right it's awkward okay we're out of here thank. And let me bring in one of the baddest men on the planet. Yes, the UFC flyweight champion, Davidson Figueiredo. This Saturday, man, you're headlining a pay-per-view defending that championship against Alex Perez.

How are you feeling just a Deus, né? Tá faltando, quero sair logo dessa dieta. Eu tô louco pra lutar e dar um show pra galera, que é o que eu mais sei fazer. Eu nasci pra fazer, cara. Eu nasci pra lutar, eu nasci pra nocautear. Então, vocês podem ter certeza que a luta vai ser muito quente no dia 21. Bom, com certeza a mudança é melhor Agora é o Alex Perez. Isso um cara um pouco mais lento, mas eu treinei como se fosse lutar com Cody Garbage para entrar muito mais versátil e pronto para o Knockout Challenge nessa luta. Foi uma melhor mudança. Ele acha que Cody é um lutador mais perigoso, mas ele não desestima ninguém.

Ele está tentando lutar com o Cody, mas mesmo que ele pense que Alex é mais lento, ele está pronto para a luta. Davidson, você tem o que chamamos de swag, e você tem ele em bolsas cheias, com o cabelo, as luvas. De onde isso vem pra você? Ele disse que ele é um cara que, desde que era jovem, gostava de se vestir bem. E ele sempre gostava de cantores de rap, então ele acha que ele foi inspirado por eles. Eu sou fã do 50 Cent também. O que você falou?

Sou fã do 50 Cent. Ele é fã do 50 Cent. Ele é fã do 50 Cent. Sim. Ele é o homem. Eu amo isso, eu amo isso. Olha, sua divisão, Davidson. Você tinha uma legenda em Demetrius Johnson. Depois você tinha uma super estrela em Henry Cejudo.

Agora é a sua hora. Qual é a sua era, sua reina da divisão de flyweight que vai parecer? O novo rei chegou. Não há mais Demetrius Johnson or Henry Cejudo. And you guys can bet that I will retire with the belt. You know, it kind of feels, Davidson, that you came out of nowhere,

but you really didn't. You've been winning one fight after another after another. Why do you think it took American fans and media a while to realize outro, depois do outro. Por que você acha que levou os fãs americanos e a mídia um tempo para se perceber que você estava próximo nessa divisão, que esse é o seu tempo? valorizar a categoria e eu espero um aprecio muito maior agora do fã para minha categoria. Eu peço aos meus seguidores, eu peço ao público do UFC que possam me seguir e possam acompanhar o meu trabalho, que eu cheguei para valorizar essa categoria a 125 quilos. que ele... para mudar a divisão. Bem, ninguém, parece, teve um bom 2020, exceto você. Dois grandes vins.

O campeonato da UFC. Se você der o Alex Perez, terá três vins em um ano. Vai fazer você o lutador do ano de 2020? Por isso, eu vou entrar para uma calçada com o Charles Wayne de sábado e fazer uma super luta. Vocês podem ter certeza que eu vou lutar para ser o melhor do ano. Ele espera. Ele está lutando. Ele está lutando no sábado para bater ele e ser o lutador do ano. Davidson, qual é a reação no seu país de casa para tudo o que você fez esse ano? Os fãs da minha cidade Os fãs do Brasil

Eles gostaram muito Da minha apresentação Pena que eu não levei o cinturão, mas eu cobrei de mim mesmo. Fazer dieta certa, fazer treinos corretos. Cobrei da minha equipe pra que

eles pudessem dar 100% atenção pra mim. E quando foi na segunda luta com o Benavides, eu voltei tão focado que eu consegui subir na balança de meia e cueca e bater o peso abaixo. Isso pode ser determinado. O apoio dos fãs brasileiros foi muito bom. No primeiro jogo, ele não trouxe a balança, mas ele foi muito difícil para fazer a dieta certa. He didn't bring the belt, but he was really hard on himself to do the right diet.

And he was really hard on his team to give him 100% attention. And in the second fight, he came back very focused. So the fans were really supportive of him. Tell me if I'm wrong here, Davidson, but when you fight somebody, you come in there with so much swagger that I feel like you're trying to find out if they're as tough as you are. Diga-me se estou errado aqui, Davidson, mas quando você luta com alguém, você entra com tanta suaveza que eu sinto que você está tentando descobrir se eles são tão difíceis quanto você. Você acha que Alex Perez é tão difícil quanto você este sábado? que eu sou mais forte que esse cara e o público vai ver nitidamente o quanto que eu sou melhor que ele, mais versátil e muito mais completo. Então, realmente não. Ele provou na semana passada que ele é um lutador mais forte e os fãs vão ver claramente o quão melhor lutador ele é. Alright, Davidson, do you think you'll be seeing Cody Garbrandt again? Do you think

it's possible that he can make this weight and be the same fighter he was at Bantamweight? Eu tenho certeza que a minha categoria é muito complicada para o Cody Garbrandt, mas eu espero que ele bata o peso, porque vai ser ótimo lutar com ele e eu vou estar preparado, eu vou estar

aqui na minha categoria dominando o meu cinturão e esperando o Kory Garbrandt chegar pra lutar, pra gente fazer uma super luta. Quem sabe a gente possa combinar peso também, se ele não conseguir bater 57 quilos, a gente possa combinar. Ou eu subo pra meia-um

pra lutar com ele. He knows his division is complicated for Garbrandt, but he hopes that he will make weight because it would be great to fight him. He will be waiting for him with his belt, but if he doesn't make weight, he could fight in a catchweight fight or maybe even in bantamweight fight. He would be ready. All right, Davidson, if you keep winning, if this becomes your division, do you think that phone will ring one day and vai ser o Henry Cejudo no outro lado, tentando pegar o título dele? também fazer uma super luta. Será que ele vai 57 quilos novamente? Eu creio que não. Mas aí quem sabe não vão chamar pra fazer uma super luta

na meia-1 com ele. Eu aceito ele. Ele acha muito difícil o Serrudo fazer isso porque ele acha que ele está um pouco mais pesado, mas ele espera que ele possa voltar e talvez para uma super luta.

Ele não acha que o Serrudo faria o peso para a divisão do Flyweight, mas ele definitivamente vai lutar contra ele no Phantomweight. Aqui está a última pergunta, a mais importante, Davidson. Se você derrotar o Alex Perez, você vai ter sua mão levantada no sábado. O que você vai comer primeiro? Ah, isso com certeza o UFC vai ter uma pizza guardada pra mim lá, eu sou apaixonado por pizza e não descarto se aparecer umas duas fatias

pra mim lá com refrigerante vou ser o primeiro a pegar mesmo o Valide não deixando UFC vai ter uma pizza guardada pra mim lá então se eles tiverem duas fatias e uma soda eu vou estar feliz UFC will definitely have a pizza safe for me there. So if they have juice light and a soda, I'll be happy. Enjoy, Davidson. Best of luck to you. So much damn swagger.

We love you here in the States. Good luck main eventing this Saturday's pay-per-view. Okay, my brother. Thank you. Morning Combat back at it on CBS Sports. We bring the champions to the show, and we got one of the best fighters in the world today, Valentina Shevchenko,

going to defend the women's flyweight title this Saturday, UFC 255 co-main event. Valentina back in this. You got to be fired up. Another pay-per-view, another tough opponent, and Jennifer Maya, how are you feeling so close to fight night? Feeling so good. I I had amazing training camp feeling strong we feeling healthy and yeah we are just like literally four or five days away from the fight and I already almost in weight so feeling amazing.

Valentina, I know you're a fighter, so you don't worry about things like betting odds. But when you have a fight and the betting odds come out and you're like minus 1700 favorite, which in theory is like no chance she could lose, how do you deal with that? I just don't look at it. My attention is far away from these things my you know i'm more concerned and concentrated on my preparation and this is what really matter for me how i feel how i my body feel my mind my everything every single nerve this is what's important for me that's why it's i'm so focused on my preparation and my performance uh is this fight going to be any different because

your sister antonina is going to join you on the same card and i did a little research 2005 was the last time in mma at least that you guys have fought in the same time that was in south korea how does that change things for you oh no it was not 2005 last time because we fought a lot in muay thai championships at least 2015 uh it was i think yes 2015 for the muay thai championships it was the last time when we fought on the same card um same world championship and um yeah you know it's kind of like um hard but easy from from other parts it's um easy it's because we have um all preparation together we helping each other and we do every time like our trainings together um from uh other side we know how what to expect from this kind of challenges and um when she's fighting first and me well, I know how to manage my feelings, my nervous and everything for not being affected with all this.

But it's great from because we work together. We train very hard together and we can just have free time for a little bit together as well because before it was kind of like I'm preparing he helped she helping me then she started preparing to her fight I helping her but you know who suffers more from all of this it's our coach Pavel Fedotov. It's constant work from one to another, from one to another. No rest for him. But this time it's going to be a little bit rest for everyone. Yeah, your sister is going to be in there against Ariane Lipski, I believe is her name.

You'll be in there, of course, in the co-main event. Do you corner each other when this happens when you fight on the same card or do you just separate the business no this time no it's gonna be too much for cornering and yeah we have amazing guys who're gonna be uh cornering us at um along the side of our coach pavel so we uh're going to join together after the event. Absolutely. All right, let's talk about this fight. You thought you were going to get Joanne Calderwood.

She was looking to be the number one contender. Jennifer Maia had a fantastic performance against her to slide in. What did you think watching that fight? Did you think you've got a legitimate contender coming at you on Saturday? Yes, I think so. Jennifer Maia, she's very strong, and she has good skills. She's a complete MMA fighter. She has good stand-up, good ground.

So I prepared very good for her. I know exactly what to expect from her and what I have to do to win her as the most important. This division has not been the deepest historically. You're the star of it, but it feels like it's getting a little bit better. I saw a nice performance from Lauren Murphy. I saw Jessica Andrade make her debut. We've got another big fight in the division on Saturday with Cynthia Calvillo

and Caitlin Chukagian. How do you feel about the changing over of the depth right now? make her debut we've got a another big fight in the division on saturday with cynthia calvillo and caitlin chukagian how do you feel about the the changing over of the depth right now uh yeah like from time to time i i keep hearing that old people saying the flyweight it's not that good not that good but it's not that i don't know why people are putting this like cliche for flyweight because it's totally not truth. Because if you will see each fighter top 10, they are very strong. They are very interesting fighters. And I think that they would do a lot of problems for anyone in bantamweight or flyweight or strawweight. But definitely, I think the future of the female MMA is going to be after flyweight

because it's a perfect weight class for female athletes. And you can see now a lot of bantam weights going down a lot of straw weights going up and we have more like from outside promotions coming joining the ufc so yes it's going to be even even more interesting in the future uh do you that is a weird question but you've been so dominant do you prefer to be dominant or are you waiting for somebody to to be your equal in there uh you know it's um i train very hard to be that dominate and i won't lose my position oh yeah keep it up it's working you're doing well uh do you take any kind of stock into what you're building for your career right now?

Because the UFC opening up this division, which is your natural weight class, your strongest weight, if you keep winning, you could be putting title defense records behind you. You could really elevate yourself. You're on the fast track of becoming one of the greatest fighters in the history of female women's MMA. You know, women's MMA. And I don't, you know, I don't say that lightly. That's a giant thing. Is it something that you can comprehend now?

Or do you just say, I'll deal with that after I retire? You know, for me to do at this moment what I love the most, it's the number one. And I love my martial arts. I love to compete. And, you know, to think about what legacy, what history, what you want to people remember you, it's not right. You have to make your history now without thinking about things. You have to do everything as best as you can to put your heart the full heart in everything that you are do and after if people decide to put you in some position it's good but you never have to ask someone oh you have to put me in there in the ranking and it's here in here it's uh it's i don't know it's just like not myself i don't see me and just like going and saying oh please put me here put me there i just do what i love the

most martial arts for me it's everything well opening up this division now and you being the best flyweight does it make you want to stay at this weight class or are you still open to moving up again for the right big fight? You know, I was competing first in bantamweight and I felt very strong in this weight class as well. But the same, your feelings that they're all bigger, just bigger, higher and bigger, you feel it. And being in your perfect weight class, it feels so amazing, so good. That's why I have my goal to defend my belt as much as I can, but I'm still open for any opportunities to come. All right.

I mean, look, I don't know if I've done an interview with you or I haven't used the name Amanda Nunes. People always bring it up. You guys aren't even talking about each other. You got your own business. If you retire without getting that third chance, will you be okay with that? I think that is going to happen.

I still think, I don't know, soon, later, when. I don't know, but I think it's going to happen anyway before we both retire i mean let's be honest you won the second fight valentina i saw it i saw it yeah yeah yeah it's true it's true so i know exactly that our second fight the last fight um yeah it was not the result, the right result. But that's why I think it's going to happen still. Ultimately, what do you think, whether it's Bantamweight or Flyweight,

what do you think has separated you from the fighters you've beaten? What's different about you? Is it just the years of practice and building your art i think of the experience it's definitely number one the experience because i do martial arts 27 years now wow wow that's a long relationship, yes. So 27 years I'm practicing martial arts, doing everything. And through these years, I fought so many different opponents, so many, I saw so different situations in martial arts. That's why it's every single experience that I had,

it gave me more and more things to be better and to be the best. All right. One time, Valentina, I saw an advertisement with you selling some soda, Inca Cola. I went to my grocery store. They had it. I bought the Inca Cola. It's fantastic. That's right. I never sell in things. I was, I was sharing that. I drink. Oh, so it wasn't an ad it wasn't a

sponsorship all right all right but you drink it though right it was sponsorship it was sponsorship but it's still under the sponsorship i am still drinking it and i love inca cola because it's um you know um you could say it's traditional drink of Peru, South America. And we lived there for eight years. And it's so tasty. It has golden color. And they call it the drink of gold. Wow.

Fitting for a champion, of course. What about fighting in your two home countries, Kyrgyzstan, Peru? What about a chance to fight there? Do you see that ever happening? I would love to. I hope they're going to happen. They're going to have it sometime. I don't know when.

They should have this year in Kazakhstan. So it's like neighbors, right, with Kyrgyzstan. And they have a lot of events in South America. They have it, of course, definitely Brazil. They had it in Uruguay. So there is a big possibility that we will see. Okay. Are you a bigger star in Peru or Kyrgyzstan?

Which one? I don't know. You have to ask people over there. Okay. Pretty big star in the States as well. Can't wait for this fight on Saturday, Valentina, against Jennifer Maya. What do you have to do to get your hand raised one more time? Be myself. be myself just keep the health

through these last days and keep the same shape what I am right now and just to be aware of everything that can happen during the fight and when I will see the moment to finish the fight I will do it. Unbelievable you're

on a great run I hope it continues best of luck to you Antoninia any other Shevchenko's that are it continues. Best of luck to you, Antonina. Any other Shevchenkos that are fighting on Saturday, best of luck to them, too. Can't wait to check it out. Thank you so much, Brent. Thank you. Have a good day. Let's bring in the flyweight of the moment. It's Alex Perez. You talk about getting a phone call. He picked up and he's going to be in a title spot Saturday main event on a pay-per-view UFC 255 Davidson Figueredo Alex congratulations uh please take me through that process you already were going to fight on this card now you're fighting for the title oh man it's uh it's

amazing you know I got the call I was sleeping my manager called me he knows I put my phone on don't disturb so he called me twice I looked at it like oh man it has to be important and then uh you know I got on the phone he's like yeah Cody's out and I'm like okay he's like yeah Cody's out you're in I'm like wait what you know it was kind of it was interesting man it was like probably one of the best feelings in the world um to know that you know you got to the to this point you know and then obviously there's still more work to be done, but it's just one thing you can mark off your checklist. I mean, look, there were a bunch of names who are on good runs.

This division's red hot right now. They went with you, the UFC, meaning you're 7-1, if you count the Dana White Contender Series appearance. Your UFC run's been nearly flawless right now how itching are you to not just be another name in the flyweight division but on Saturday raise that gold and and turn your life around in one moment oh man this is everything I've worked for you know it's not just the last year it's been the last 10 years so from when I started to now you know even they can go be further than that from when I started wrestling uh you know all those moments and all that stuff got me ready for this moment

and it's getting it continues to get me ready for the moments coming now you know you didn't know you were going to be in the title fight until you got the opportunity were you already title ready were you already where you needed to be mentally? Yeah, I mean, biggest thing that I take away from all this, it's still a fight, you know. So, I mean, whether it was going to fight Brandon or, you know, be a step in for, you know, in case something was happening for the main event, you know, it's a fight. I'm always in shape.

I'm always ready to go. So, my mindset was already there. Were you guys, and I want you to kind of speak for yourself and the division in general, were you guys okay with Cody Garbrandt even getting this opportunity considering, like I mentioned, there's three or four of you guys, Moreno, Royval, who are looking very good at the moment. Askar, Askar, I mean, this is a good division. And yet a celebrity name got brought in out of nowhere to go for the title.

Were you all right with that? honestly i was a little upset um i think a lot of us i think a lot of the guys were but at the same time too understand it's a business you know cody draws you know i okay cool you know i mean uh for me i was upset you know i you know i got knocked down just gonna get back up and keep working like my mindset is even if they would have gone with someone else for this fight would I have been upset and maybe you know because I felt like I deserved after my last win but at the same time too that's life you can't just like oh well I didn't get this I'm you know gonna do it like man shit happens you got it yeah just forget about it and move on my mindset was I keep winning they can't deny me the title

shot you know and I got it I got it I felt like I keep winning. They can't deny me the title shot, you know, and I got it. I got it. I felt like I deserved that in my last fight. They put me in. Obviously, someone in the UFC thought I deserved it, so here I am. All right. Formiga, I'm sorry, not Formiga, Davidson Figueroa, the champion. He's 8-1 in the UFC coming in.

You're 7-1. Oddly enough, each of your your losses the other fighter just beat in their last fight you stopping juicy a formica who was his only loss in the ufc and him beating joseph benavidez which is your only loss do we can we do mma math can we take anything from that at all uh no man every fight is different styles are different you know um i mean some people play big into it i don't i just feel like every fight is different uh i tell you know um i mean some people play big into it i don't i just feel like every fight is different uh i tell people over and over and over again what separates the best it's whoever's on that night um i mean you see some guys lose some guys

win but barely yeah i mean it's just whoever's on that night you see guys look good some guys look bad but it doesn't mean they had a bad training camp because you've been like hey man i wasn't in that night. You know, I didn't clock in on time. And that's just the way the sport goes. So that's the way I take it. I take it like, yeah, he lost to Jusser, but he didn't clock in on time for that fight, you know.

Same thing with me and Benavidez. I had an off night. Not taking anything away from those guys. They won. You know what I mean? They beat us, but at the same time, too, it's like, okay, you know, it happens. All right. How do you guys match up together? What is this fight going to look like inside there Saturday night?

Man, if they see us fight, I mean, they've seen him fight. They've seen me fight. So, I think it's going to be a war. We both come in. We both go forward. We don't back up, you know. So, it's one of those things, like, it's going to be a fun fight. And we're a flyweight. So, we both go forward. We don't back up, you know? So it's one of those things like it's going to be a fun fight, and we're a flyweight, so we got cardio for days.

So we're going to push that pace, you know, and, you know, I see myself winning. Look, I just talked to the champ. He was shirtless, sunglasses on. He's got the fade and the part and the red streak going through. The guy's got swagger for days. You good with him? You guys ever cross paths before?

What's your history? No, you know, I've seen him. I've seen him actually the night he fought just there because my training partner Chito Vera was fighting that night, and I usually travel with him and just go support. And I've seen him. Nothing crazy, you know. I've never, like, spoke to him, nothing.

And he has that swag. I'm the worst person for swag. I'm dressing sweats and sweaters all day in running shoes, man. That's good for him, man. Some people like it. Some people don't. I mean, I don't know. It doesn't bother me. Is this a fair statement

that Henry Cejudo saved the UFC flyweight division? Is that a fair statement that Henry Cejudo saved the UFC flyweight division? Is that a fair statement? Who knows, man? Who knows, honestly. Yeah, he beat TJ. I mean, there's a lot of things that went on with the whole flyweight division, right? They got rid of DJ.

He beat TJ. Then they cut a whole bunch of guys, added a whole bunch of new guys in. Who knows? He could have been a part of it. For me, I'm not trying to sound like a douche or a dick, but for me, if 25s was cut, I felt like I'm big enough to go up to 35s. So it was like, okay, I feel like I still would have had a job. Except for the guys that got cut and the smaller guys and stuff like that. But for me, feel like i still would have had a job except for the guys that

got cut and the smaller guys and stuff like that but for me i thought i would have been okay because you know i would have been able to make money like i said i sucks that some of those guys didn't didn't get the you know got cut and they're going to cut the division so people are getting pink slips but you know i mean uh i was just grateful that they brought it back and i'm in my uh in my division. I mean, you could not ask for a better opportunity here. What's the reaction in your hometown of California and your family when you were saying, hey, you know that fight you're going to watch on Saturday?

Yeah, I'm going to be in the title fight. Get Grandma out. Get Abuela. Let's get a party going here. At first, you know, because I told told my family like no you're not my little bro's like no you're not didn't want to say nothing blah blah and then all of a sudden like it pops up on his phone mate like an hour later he's like oh you're you're online i was like yeah so why would i lie about what i'm gonna do uh my family and everybody's super supportive i got

family here in vegas got me all over it you know obviously california got family in texas my family in mexico they're all they're all hitting me up you know everybody's super supportive uh i'm i'm glad to be representing really more um the first person to make it from my hometown and the first person to fight for a title for my hometown uh you know a couple towns over you got chad mendez from hanford you got marion and cody you know uh from visalia you got joe soto so you got a Mendez from Hanford you got Marion and Cody you know from Rysalia you got Joe Soto so you got a lot of great talent out of the Central Valley I'm gonna be the first one to bring home that belt. You can also be the first alumni of the Dana White Contender Series here to bring home the belt as well how important was that opportunity for you and to where you are

today? It was big man a lot of people don't know but it wasn't like i was highly recruited for that you know it wasn't like oh they went out looking for me my manager got me the spot someone got hurt and they offered me the spot like in three weeks notice and um i remember telling myself it's gonna make the most of this you know take the most uh make the most of this opportunity and And I did, and here I am now. This is weird. It's like a before and after I'm talking to you before, if you win on Saturday night, you're the UFC champion. That's an after your life is going to go from up to this point. And then this point after, are you thinking about any of that? Or is it more just like another fight blinders? Let's with it um not really because you can't think too

far ahead but just in general like stuff doesn't really change for me like when i won my ufc contract people like all this you know and i was like man i'm still the same person you know uh maybe i got 100 more followers on instagram but i'm still the same person you know and then once i started winning in the ufc it was still like I'm still the same person nothing changes I still dress in the same clothes you know I mean I don't nothing really changes uh I'm not I'm a country guy you know I'm a small town kid and uh I as crazy as it sounds I don't like being on the spotlight I don't like taking pictures I don't you know I'm more to myself I got my close group of friends so I really don't see anything changing too much for me. You know, I just like that small-town vibe, and I feel like that's me.

I like it. I like the humility right there. Well, if they don't know your name, they will if you win on Saturday. So how do you win? Let's talk about Figueredo. He seems to be completely well-rounded. You know, as are you, as are a lot of these top fighters, when you get to this level.

If this goes mano a mano, if you've got to bring out the Mexican spirit, can you stand up with this guy for five full rounds? Can he take your heat? I feel like if I had to stand with him, you know what I mean, everybody's seen what happened when I fought Shorty, you know what I mean. A lot of people thought I was a wrestler. I bring the pressure. I bring the hands.

I bring the numbers, you know. Can he handle A lot of people thought I was a wrestler. I bring the pressure. I bring the hands. I bring the numbers, you know? Can he handle it? Who knows? We'll find out on Saturday. I love it. I love it. Hey, man, best of luck, UFC 255, the main event.

Alex Perez, know his name. All right, know it. You may hear a lot more of it coming up after this. Go get him, man. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. UFC 255 this Saturday in Las Vegas. Got to bring on the big names.

Got to bring on maybe the next women's flyweight champion of the world, Jennifer Maia, coming into a co-main event spot against the champ, Valentina Shevchenko. Congratulations, Jennifer, on this big opportunity. I got to guess you're feeling fired up right now. I'm extremely happy for this moment. I worked really hard for many years to get here. So I feel completely prepared and excited for Saturday. All right, Jennifer. Well, something happened in your fight

against Joanne Calderwood, where we thought of you as a pretty darn good fighter, but that night you exceeded our expectations. You dominated. You made a statement that you are ready, in fact, for the title level. I don't want to discount everything you did in your career before that. I just don't think I've ever seen you look as dialed in as you did that night against Calderwood. Exactly. I still haven't been able to show all my potential inside the UFC. I haven't been able to surprise. dentro do UFC, não tinha conseguido surpreender, e nessa luta contra a Joanne, eu consegui surpreender a todos e mostrar

que eu estava realmente pronta pra disputar o título. Sim, exatamente. Eu não tinha sido capaz, antes da luta com a Joanne, de mostrar tudo que eu sou capaz e mostrar meu potencial e surpreender

todo mundo, como eu fiz. Então, eu estou muito feliz que eu consegui fazer isso contra a Joanne e mostrar off and show my full potential um and surprise everyone like i did um so i'm really happy that i got to do that against joanne and show that i'm ready to be the next champion all right look jennifer the odds makers they're not always right okay but the odds makers are leading us to believe that valentina shevchenko is unbeatcapável. Como você se prepara, sabendo que não estão te dando um grande tiro na noite de sábado? eu venho pra buscar essa vitória a qualquer custo, então pra mim não faz diferença ela ser a favorita ou não, eu estou preparada pra vencer smart opponent um but i'm stepping into the octagon to get that win um i'll do whatever it

takes and i believe i'm fully prepared to do so to show the world that she's an unbeatable and be the next champion when you look at tape when you watch valentina compete do you see openings do you see weaknesses Realmente é muito difícil achar uma falha no jogo da Valentina, né? Mas eu acho que, para mim, um caminho para a vitória possa ser o chão ou, se em pé, não deixar ela jogar na zona confortável dela, tentar anular o jogo dela o tempo todo. um it definitely is hard to see uh weaknesses and spaces in valentina's game um i do think that taking this fight to the ground is a good uh opportunity for me but even standing um it's just trying to take her out of her comfort zone um and just exposing her game and putting my game e expor a sua jogada e colocar a minha jogada em plano.

O que faz você diferente dos outros homens de top rank na divisão de flyweight para alguém que está indo para essa luta e dizer que acha que pode tirar o upset? O que faz a Jennifer Maia diferente? Acho que o meu jogo casa muito com o jogo dela, então acredito que vai ser uma luta não só onde uma vai vencer, mas onde vai ser um espetáculo para o público. Então, uma luta disputada, round a round, uma querendo vencer mais que a outra. E eu sinto que no momento eu estou com essa vontade a mais que ela de vencer. The matchup for this fight is really good for both of us. And I think it will not only be a common fight. They will watch a spectacle.

I'll put on a show this Saturday. It will be a tough fight, a very disputed round after round kind of fight. But I'll show that I want this more than she wants it. All right, Jennifer. Fighters always try to play it cool. They say this is just another fight, not a big deal. But that can't be true. This is a championship.

This could be changing your life in one night. How do you deal with those extra nerves and anxiety knowing that everything you worked for could come to fruition on Saturday? Como você se liga com esses nervos e ansiedade, sabendo que tudo o que você trabalhou poderia chegar à fruição no sábado? dando até chegar a esse momento. Então, eu estou muito feliz e eu acho que a sensação de se sentir preparada para esse momento me faz ficar tranquila. Então, eu vou chegar lá. Não é só mais uma luta, porque eu estou lutando contra a campeã, mas eu estou

muito feliz por ter conquistado esse espaço de lutar contra a campeã, de estar concorrendo ao título. Eu estou muito feliz. Há anos de trabalho difícil e apenas sabendo I'm just really happy. It's been years of hard work. And just knowing that I'm prepared, that makes me calmer and that makes it easier to get there. I know that this isn't just another fight.

This is the fight for the title. It's my chance to be champion. But I worked really hard for a lot of years to get here. So that's what makes me calmer and just gets me ready for Saturday. In the past couple of months, we saw in your division a big win from Lauren Murphy. She said she's more deserving for a title shot.

She wanted you to get pulled out and her to go in. When you watched that, what was your reaction? So I think that each one is in the moment. Ela queria que você fosse tirado e ela fosse entrar. Quando você assistiu isso, qual foi a sua reação? Então, eu acho que assim, cada uma está num momento, numa fase diferente e está onde merece, né? Se eu conquistei esse espaço de disputar o título agora, é porque eu mereço, é o meu momento. Talvez ainda a vez dela chegue, mas dessa vez é a minha vez. Cada um de nós está vivendo um momento diferente e é onde eles deservem estar. Eu acho que eu deservei estar aqui e eu paguei o meu caminho para chegar aqui. Talvez no futuro ela tenha a chance, mas agora é o meu tempo e eu deservei estar aqui.

Os fãs americanos podem não te conhecer como lutador, podem não te conhecer como pessoa, talvez diferenças de língua. O que você espera que nós possamos aprender sobre você nesta luta no sábado? a Valentina, a tão temida Valentina e surpreendeu a todo mundo, né? Quem ainda não me conhecia vai começar a me conhecer a partir de sábado. On Saturday they will know me as the champion,

as the woman who beat the unbeatable Valentina. So that's what they will get to know from me. Final question, Jennifer, maybe the most important one. We know Valentina after a victory likes to do her, her little dance routine.

It's spectacular. You gotta give her respect. Do you have a victory dance planned for when you lift that title up and become the new UFC women's flyweight champion? Não, não tenho nenhuma dança preparada, só visualizo o cinturão ali comigo e eu olhando ele com muito amor. Obrigada. of well best of luck to you on Saturday Jennifer it should be a fantastic fight UFC 255 the biggest fight of your life I know you'll be ready oh thank you