Deiveson Figueiredo to Leave Team Alpha Male Due to Training Conflict at Flyweight

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Deiveson Figueiredo will have to look elsewhere to get the high-level training partners he desires.

Right after losing the flyweight belt to Brandon Moreno at UFC 263, Brazil’s Figueiredo declared that one of the reasons for his bad performance was the fact of having the same routine of sparring.

“It’s important to be challenged every day,” he said. “I’ve already talked to Fabio Prado. My next camp will be done in Team Alpha Male, where I’ll have the best level of sparring in the world for my division.”

From an interview with Sherdog on Tuesday, however, those plans have changed. Fabio Prado, the grappling coach of Team Alpha Male, revealed that Cody Garbrandt’s decision to move down to flyweight has halted that camp switch. Per Prado, the team has rescinded its invitation to the former flyweight king.

“Few years ago, Deiveson spent a long time here training with us [at Team Alpha Male],” Prado said. “[Urijah] Faber and most people here liked [Figueiredo] very much, but after Garbrandt decided to go down to flyweight, we [held] a meeting where it was decided that [it] wouldn’t make any sense to have a possible future opponent training here…besides Deiveson at 125 pounds, his brother [Francisco Figueiredo] is also at 135 pounds, where we have Raulian [Paiva].”

And concerning former partners who turned out to be opponents, Prado revealed a great friendship with T.J. Dillashaw. The trainer even noted that Dillashaw will be the next UFC Bantamweight champion.

“We lived together in the same apartment,” the Carlson Gracie black belt explained. “Even with all [this] bad blood with former Alpha Male mates, I kept having a great relationship with T.J. I know how hard this kid trains and how focused he is, I truly believe he will beat Petr Yan and get the belt back.”