Deiveson Figueiredo wins flyweight gold, angry fans say ref Marc Goddard waited for Joseph Benavidez 'to die'
Fans were hooked to UFC Fight Island's Saturday night match between Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez. Figueiredo used his second opportunity to claim the UFC flyweight gold. He won the vacant title in the main event of UFC's third show. The athlete had a lot riding on this match. In February, he stopped Benavidez in the second round but could not win the title because he came in overweight. The rematch had to be rescheduled because Figueiredo tested positive for Covid-19 just seven days prior to the fight. However, the Brazilian passed a second test and other additional tests and was cleared to fight.
Figueiredo charged his opponent head-on from the beginning of the game. He had an upper hand on Benavidez in the opening seconds with a right hook and nearly ended the fight with a series of rear-naked choke attempts. But Benavidez did not give up and kept the game alive. He tried to make a comeback but Figueiredo was in no mood to let this second opportunity go waste and fought back harder. Finally, Benavidez was defeated and UFC Fight Island got their champion.
However, the focus shifted from the winner to referee Marc Goddard, soon. Many fans were angry that even after Benavidez was down, the referee failed to do his duty and did not stop the fight on time. Fans were vocal about their displeasure about Goddard and demanded that action needed to be taken against him. One user tweeted, “No. Fight till the fight is clearly over. Benavidez was DONE and Goddard did f**k up. Dude sucks as a ref.” Another said, “No. I'm mad that Goddard let Figueiredo hold the choke for a few seconds AFTER Benavidez passed out.”
One user said: “Surely Marc Goddard has to be removed from being a UFC referee. The length of time he stood idly by well after Benavidez fell unconscious with his eyes rolled to the back of his head was disturbing.” Someone also commented, “Benavidez was out cold. Goddard was right there, could see that and still let Figueiredo hold the choke for a few seconds longer than needed.” Another angry fan said, “Horrid stoppage there from Marc Goddard. Everyone could see Benavidez was out cold and Goddard was right there and still didn’t do shit for a good couple of seconds.” A Twitter user even accused that, “Marc Goddard stopped a conscious fighting Colby but then waited for Benavidez to die before he stops the fight.”
As reported by Yahoo sports, Figueiredo was happy about his win and expressed it by saying, “I knew my time would come and this was my time. I’m going to defend my belt and be an active champion.” Even Benavidez showed his sporting spirit and said at post-match press conference that he was grateful for the opportunity to redeem the last fight.
Fans showed their respect and praised Benavidez by saying, “Benavidez will always be one of the greatest fighters in the world.” Another fan tweeted, “Benavidez is a true vet, just unfortunate he's never won the belt.”