$1 Million!

Putting Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno in a cage together has proven to be guaranteed fireworks. It only makes sense that the mixed martial arts (MMA) world would want to see them go at it as many times as possible.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) 125-pound flyweight division has stepped up its game a notch since Henry Cejudo departed for the class above in June 2019. After reclaiming the crown at UFC 270 on Jan. 22, 2022, Figueiredo finds himself with plenty of options outside of Mexico’s Moreno.

But, if a fourth consecutive fight is in the cards for each, the champion wants a pay bump.

“I think about Kai Kara-France [next]. I have the price for the fourth [Moreno] fight,” Figueiredo said on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour. “If UFC wants the fourth fight, I want to ask the price, because if the UFC wants to do something historic, let’s go pay historic money for the flyweight division. … Whoever pays better for me, this is the guy I’m gonna fight.

“One million dollars, I like one million dollars. More money, more pay-per-view, and the more money I make the more gold I’m gonna buy,” he continued. “You know Iron Man? You’re gonna see the ‘Gold Man.’”

UFC athletes vs. the pay scale has been an ongoing battle that’s only been further highlighted in 2021 and beyond. A big talking point in the heavyweight division, which was also featured at UFC 270, was that of fighter pay and how the champion Francis Ngannou made $600,000 for his Ciryl Gane title defense.

Reported payouts for the flyweights were as low as $200,000 for Moreno and $150,000 for Figueiredo. The other challenger in Gane received $500,000.

While a fourth fight would already be unprecedented, Figueiredo’s coach at Fight Ready, Eric Albarracin, is willing to take things even further.

“It’s one of the most exciting divisions in the UFC now,” Albarracin told MMA Junkie. “There’s only one thing to do to make it more exciting, is pit those two together and finally figure it out. They got a tie, one win apiece, and let’s put that nail in that coffin and see who truly the best flyweight in the world is and let’s get this tetralogy.

“‘The Assassin Baby’ vs. ‘The God of War,’ that’s the fight to make,” he continued. “If you can’t make that fight, I say Kai Kara-France. Brazil vs. New Zealand 2.”

Figueiredo and Moreno are currently a rare 1-1-1 in their rivalry. With the other contenders currently tied up, like Kai Kara-France and Askar Askarov who fight on March 26, 2022, the quadrilogy does have logic to it.