The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight titleholder will face
Payton
Talbott at UFC
332 on Oct. 3 in Salt Lake City. After suffering four defeats
in his last five fights, the Brazilian has spent his latest
training camp in Thailand sharpening his muay thai.

Deiveson Figueiredo sharpens Muay Thai and grappling for Payton
Talbott

Speaking to Sherdog, Figueiredo said the trip was initially
intended as an opportunity to spend a month training and
experiencing Thailand before the UFC presented him with the matchup
against Talbott.

“Actually, I came here to spend a month sharpening my muay thai and
experiencing Thailand, which had been a longtime dream of mine,â€
Figueiredo said. “When I got here, the UFC offered me this fight,
so I decided to do my entire camp here.â€

Figueiredo worked on his striking with Phuket Fight Club head coach
Leo Elias while also training with wrestlers at the gym to sharpen
his grappling.

“Elias is everything people say he is,†Figueiredo said. “We worked
a lot on striking volume. I also got a lot of help from fighters
from Chechnya, Dagestan and Uzbekistan when it came to grappling. I
was able to learn a lot from them.â€

“Deus Da Guerra†believes he is prepared for wherever the fight
with Talbott takes place.

“I always look to mix things up. What I can say is that I'm ready
to neutralize Talbot's game, wherever the fight takes place.â€

Fury and Joshua are set to clash on Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium
in Cardiff, Wales. The first press conference for the fight took
place Sept. 30 at Olympia Exhibition Center in London. White has
repeatedly said he is involved in the fight alongside Turki
Alalshikh. However, Hearn has disputed White's characterization of
his role, claiming contractual arrangements prevent White from
being involved without his approval.

Eddie Hearns calls Dana White situation ‘one of the greatest PR
disasters in boxing'

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO did not attend the press
conference in London, having cited his
Dana White's Contender Series obligations the previous day.

Hearn remains unconvinced by that explanation. The Matchroom Boxing
chairman questioned whether White would miss a press conference for
a fight of this magnitude because of his Contender Series
obligations. Hearn believes Alalshikh wants White involved because
of their partnership but maintains that contractual arrangements
prevent that from happening without Hearn's approval.

“That's like me not coming today ‘cause I got the next gen Show…
It's a load of bollocks,†Hearn told The Stomping Ground. “The
thing is this – Turki is partners with Dana and Nick Khan. He wants
them involved in the event; contractually, they can't be unless I
allow them to be. Now these guys, Dana, etc. just played it all
wrong. I'm not even going to sit here and slag it off because
what's happened to them over the last seven days has been one of
the greatest PR disasters in boxing.â€

Hearn believes White took the wrong approach by publicly clashing
with him. He suggested that he might be open to White's involvement
if it benefits Anthony Joshua and Matchroom.

“I don't even have to go in on them,†Hearn continued. “What I
would tell you and I don't want to be condescending like some
people are and tell you how to do things but all you had to do was
say, ‘We understand there is a contract in place that [prevents] us
from being involved; we're going to get together with Eddie Hearn
and Turki Alalshikh and we're going to discuss it.' If you can tell
me a reason that I should allow these people into the fight and it
benefits Anthony Joshua and Matchroom, let's chat.â€

Hernandez, who returns to action in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC
332 on Oct. 3, was scheduled to face Johnson at
UFC 324 in January. However, the fight was canceled at the last
minute amid suspicious betting-line movement.

Alexander Hernandez recounts federal questioning after canceled
Michael Johnson fight

Hernandez opened as a sizable favorite, but money reportedly began
pouring in on Johnson a day before the fight, shifting the odds in
his favor. Hernandez said he was subsequently questioned by federal
agents about whether he was planning to throw the fight.

Hernandez recently recalled the “embarrassing†episode. According
to Hernandez, the agents asked whether he had any incriminating
apps, a question he initially did not understand. At their request,
Hernandez said he downloaded the Signal messaging app again on his
phone.

Hernandez said his Signal account contained a message from a bot
and another exchange in which he tried to procure a gram of
marijuana in Brazil. While Hernandez acknowledged being embarrassed
by the amount of marijuana he was trying to obtain, he dismissed
the notion that the exchange indicated anything related to the
canceled fight. Hernandez said the questioning lasted nearly an
hour before he was allowed to leave.

“They're like, ‘Do you have any incriminating apps?' I'm like, ‘I
don't even know what an incriminating app would look like.' They
say, ‘Signal,' and I'm like, ‘What's Signal?'… I open it up, and
one was a bot message saying hey or something, and the other was me
buying like a gram of weed in Brazil,†Hernandez told Ariel
Helwani. “I was like, ‘OK, that's kind of embarrassing. That’s a
p*ssy amount, I'll admit that, but it was certainly not insider
trading, not throwing a fucking fight.' Embarrassing exchange,
sure. Federal charge, I'd say not… I probably sat in there spinning
our wheels together for nearly an hour, I'd imagine.â€

Hernandez has since suffered a decision loss to Rafa Garcia
in April, snapping a four-fight winning streak. He is now scheduled
to face former champion Rafael dos
Anjos at UFC 332 on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake
City.