Joseph Benavidez cried when he appeared in front of the media, after he suffered a one-sided beating in the early hours of Sunday morning.- The
UFC gave Benavidez a fourth shot at a championship when the company matched him withDeiveson Figueiredo for the second time of the year. - But Figueiredo gave him the worst beating of his career, hitting him 40 times, flooring him thrice, and then submitting him all within the very first round.
- "I've died freaking 100 times," Benavidez told the media after his fight. "What's another death."
Sunday morning's UFC flyweight title fight against Figueiredo was always going to be the 35-year-old's last shot at glory, having previously challenged for and come up short in three other championship bouts.
But in Figueiredo, the American found an opponent who gave him the worst beating of his career. He was hit 40 times, suffered three knockdowns, and was wearing a mask of blood when the Brazilian choked him unconscious before the end of the opening frame.
Traditionally, the winners go on to address the press in the media tent adjacent to the purpose-built, behind-closed-doors Flash Forum venue on Yas Island, but, this time, Benavidez wanted to have his say, too.
And his say was a hard experience for him to endure, as he came to the realization that he will never be a champion.
"I've died freaking 100 times, what's another death," Benavidez said at an event attended by Insider.
The MMA veteran has been a highly-ranked competitor for more than a decade in the UFC and previously the World Extreme Cagefighting organization.
In between deep breaths, sniffs of his nose, and pauses to cry, Benavidez said he thought he did everything right going into his final title fight.
He said he woke up early, tried to acclimate to the conditions of competing at six in the morning.
"I felt good in there, focused and present," he said. "That's the hard part. Going into it this time, I want a fair fight. He went out there and proved he's the better guy. It's hard, you can't feel sorry for yourself.
"Taking punches to the face at six in the morning, it's funny to hear that but, like, I'm grateful that I'm capable to do that."
Benavidez then spoke of how thankful he is to the UFC, for the opportunities, and for the chance to compete on "Fight Island," an ambitious project the UFC built in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi government to provide the MMA company with an environment in which it can hold international events.
"My wife … so grateful for that," Benavidez said of his partner, the UFC presenter Megan Olivi. "Nothing can be bad — going home and having someone making you feel like the best every day.
"It's crazy. I'm walking around and it's light outside and I'm getting stitches in a van. Life comes at you fast, man. I'm at an empty arena at two in the morning in Abu Dhabi. Now it's six and I got the s--- beat out of me," he said.
After sobbing, Benavidez said he knows he'll never be able to fight for a championship again. But he refuses to bow out on a loss.
"I'm not going to get another title shot but I want to go out on another fight," he said. "Then there's nothing for me to do."
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