UFC Macau Fight Card: Yan Vs. Figueiredo Odds, Picks And Predictions

The next fight card on the UFC schedule is UFC Macau, which takes place on Saturday, November 23, at Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. The UFC Fight Night event is headlined by a bantamweight matchup between former UFC champions Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo in a 135-pound scrap. The UFC Macau card streams on ESPN+, with the prelims starting at 3:00 a.m. ET and the main card beginning at 6 a.m. ET. Petr Yan (17-5) enters Saturday’s UFC Macau fight card on the worst run of his UFC career. The 31-year-old former UFC bantamweight champion is 2-4 dating back to March 2021. However, that record is somewhat deceiving because Yan’s losses have all come against fighters who have held, or currently possess, the UFC’s 135-pound championship. Yan won the vacant UFC bantamweight belt by trouncing former UFC featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo in July 2020. Yan’s run with the belt was short, as he lost the title in his first attempted defense. Yan handed the strap to Aljamain Sterling in March 2021 after Yan blasted Sterling with an illegal knee that prevented Sterling from continuing. In October 2021 Yan picked up the interim bantamweight title with a decision win over Cory Sandhagen. Yan’s next outing was a title unification matchup with Sterling. Sterling retained the belt with a split-decision win. Yan followed his loss to Sterling with a split-decision setback to Sean O’Malley in October 2022. He then dropped a March 2023 scrap to Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision. Yan got back in the win column in March with a decision win over Song Yadong. The former champion enters the UFC Macau fight card as the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. Deiveson Figueiredo (24-3-1) is a former two-time UFC flyweight champion. The 36-year-old first claimed UFC gold in July 2020 when he scored a submission over Joseph Benavidez. He defended the title twice, beating Alex Perez and fighting Brandon Moreno to a draw. Figueiredo surrendered the belt to Moreno in a June 2021 rematch, losing by submission. Figueiredo regained the 125-pound title in January 2020 when he defeated Moreno via decision. The two met for a fourth time in January 2023. Moreno regained the belt in that matchup, winning via doctor stoppage TKO. The loss to Moreno was Figueiredo’s final fight at 125 pounds. The 36-year-old moved up to bantamweight in December 2023, defeating Rob Font by decision in that scrap. Since then, Figueiredo has picked up two more wins at 135, submitting former UFC champ Cody Garbrandt and most recently beating recent UFC title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera by decision in August. Figueiredo enters UFC Macau as the No. 5 fighter in the UFC’s bantamweight division. “Deiveson is a former champ, and also Merab has been saying that he’s the only real deserving challenger for his belt,” Yan told UFC News. “So for me, it’s a good opportunity for me to get this position, to beat him and challenge for the belt instead of him.” “I believe this is a No. 1 contender’s fight,” Yan added. “Merab (Dvalishvili) is currently champ, but I believe that he’s not ready to defend his title just yet, especially against Umar (Nurmagomedov). It seems like he is avoiding him. Also Umar, I believe he maybe needs a couple of good wins too. So, with a win over Deiveson, I believe that I can get back into the title picture and challenge for the belt again.” “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” Figueiredo told Sherdog.com. “I’m from the jungle. My father was a farmer. He was born and raised on a farm. He raised us around the jungle, where we were always dealing with dangerous animals.” “I’m very hungry,” he said. “I’ll get into the Octagon, and I’ll prove I’m the better fighter. I want to go for the [bantamweight] belt. I feel a great sense of accomplishment from all I’ve done in both weight classes. I have nothing else to prove. Now I’m putting on shows for the fans in the weight class above [flyweight]. I’m here to fight, and I’m here to win.” “We’ve studied him extensively,” Figueiredo added. “His game is full of holes. He doesn’t come from wrestling or jiu-jitsu. He likes to strike. I am a striker. We’re confident the fight will play out on the feet. I have many more weapons. I’ll be using them all against him.” When the UFC announced the main event for UFC Macau, Yan opened as the -260 betting favorite over Figueiredo, who opened as the +196 betting underdog. The betting line has shifted for this bantamweight bout. Today, Yan is listed at -333 and Figueiredo at +230. Look for an exciting matchup on Saturday, but the betting pick is for Yan and his cardio to carry the day. Yan is the pick to win the UFC Macau main event via decision.