Top UFC bantamweight shares honest opinion on why he will get the better of Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines

A top UFC bantamweight recently shared his honest opinion on why he believes he will get the better of Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines. He highlighted certain areas that he has assessed and believes there has been a change in mentality from the Brazilian.

Figueiredo is scheduled to headline UFC Des Moines on May. 3, when he takes on Cory Sandhagen. The bantamweight clash will have major implications on the title race at 135-pounds as both competitors look to bounce back from their respective losses and remain in the title picture.

Sandhagen is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov, while Figueiredo is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Petr Yan.

During his latest appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Sandhagen weighed in on his upcoming bout and highlighted Figueiredo's age and recent performances as an indicator of what to expect. 'The Sandman' mentioned that he doesn't believe 'Deus da Guerra' is as aggressive of a competitor like he once was and believes he will get the better of the former flyweight champion:

"I think [Figueiredo's] been fighting differently at [bantamweight] than he has at [flyweight]... He doesn't really march people down the same way that he used to just because we're much bigger in this division compared to him... He's definitely an older guy now and yeah, I don't really think he fights with the same ferocity that I feel like he used to."

Check out Cory Sandhagen's comments regarding his upcoming bout against Deiveson Figueiredo below:

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Cory Sandhagen predicts Deiveson Figueiredo's game plan for UFC Des Moines bout

Cory Sandhagen also predicted what he believes Deiveson Figueiredo's game plan will be when they compete in the main event of UFC Des Moines.

During the aforementioned clip, Sandhagen mentioned that he believes Figueiredo will attempt to force grappling exchanges and hope to connect, but remains confident that he will still get his hand raised:

"I think [Figueiredo's] just gonna come out there and try to catch me. You know, that's kind of the way that I feel like he's been fighting a lot of his fights. He's just gonna either try to catch me with a punch or a kick or catch me in the submission and I think that time has kind of showed that that's not the winning strategy against me."

Check out the official bout announcements for UFC Des Moines featuring Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo below: