UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Ariel Helwhiney
- 18 hours ago
- 7 min read
Introduction
UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez took place on Saturday, November 21, 2020 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. It was the first numbered UFC pay-per-view ever to be headlined by two flyweight title fights — one men's, one women's — and the only card of 2020 to feature consecutive flyweight world championships on the main card. The card produced an estimated 350,000 pay-per-view buys.
Deiveson Figueiredo defended the men's flyweight title in 1:57 of round one, sinking a guillotine choke on Alex Perez to claim his second submission win in three months. The Brazilian had taken the title from Joseph Benavidez in July 2020 and was now in the middle of one of the busiest championship runs in UFC history — he would fight again three weeks later, drawing with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256. The co-main saw Valentina Shevchenko make a comfortable third defense of the women's flyweight title against Jennifer Maia, winning by lopsided unanimous decision.
The preliminary card produced one of the most-watched single-fight finishes of 2020: Joaquin Buckley's flying-knee KO of Jordan Wright at 2:14 of round one, which earned a Performance bonus and was widely circulated as a Knockout of the Year contender.
Contents
• FAQ
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, November 21, 2020
📍 Venue: UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
👥 Attendance: 0 (closed-door, COVID-19 era)
💰 Gate: $0 (no live audience)
📺 PPV Buys: ~350,000
📡 Broadcast: Pay-per-view (ESPN+ in USA)
🏆 Main Event: Deiveson Figueiredo (c) vs. Alex Perez — UFC Flyweight Championship (125 lbs)
✅ Result: Figueiredo def. Perez via Submission (guillotine choke) — R1, 1:57
🥇 Co-Main: Valentina Shevchenko (c) def. Jennifer Maia via Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45) — UFC Women's Flyweight Championship
The Build-Up
Deiveson Figueiredo had taken the men's flyweight title from Joseph Benavidez via first-round submission in July 2020 — the fourth and final fight of the Benavidez-Figueiredo rivalry. Alex Perez had earned the title shot via a TKO of Jordan Espinosa, a UD over Jussier Formiga, and a first-round TKO of Jordan Espinosa in November 2019. He was 24-5 and on a four-fight win streak.
Figueiredo's pace was the story of 2020. He had agreed to fight three weeks after UFC 255 — a planned defense against Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 — a fight he eventually drew with in one of the more memorable championship five-rounders of the COVID era. The Perez bout at UFC 255 was framed as a tune-up by the Brazilian's camp, but Perez was a real challenger and the betting odds reflected it (Figueiredo -240).
The co-main was the third defense of Valentina Shevchenko's women's flyweight title. Jennifer Maia had earned the title shot by a split-decision upset of Joanne Calderwood in August 2020. She was the +800 underdog — one of the heaviest in any women's UFC title fight of the year.
Main Event: Figueiredo vs. Perez
The fight lasted 1:57. Figueiredo opened with a low calf kick that Perez over-committed against. The Brazilian level-changed off the kick reaction, secured an under-hook clinch, and dragged Perez to the canvas. Within fifteen seconds Figueiredo had hip-escaped to top-side, threaded a knee through Perez's frame, and locked in an arm-in guillotine choke from full mount.
Perez tapped at 1:57. It was Figueiredo's second consecutive submission title-fight finish (after the Benavidez sub in July) and his second arm-in guillotine in title competition. Perez had not had a meaningful moment in the fight — his lone offensive sequence was the over-committed counter that Figueiredo turned into the takedown. The result reinforced Figueiredo's case as the most physically dominant flyweight in promotion history.
Three weeks later — a rapid turnaround almost unheard of for a UFC champion — Figueiredo would draw with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 in one of the closest five-round championship fights of 2020. He would lose the rematch (and the title) to Moreno at UFC 263 in June 2021, win it back at UFC 270 in January 2022, then lose to Moreno a fourth time at UFC 283 in January 2023. The Figueiredo-Moreno rivalry became one of the defining championship sagas of the early 2020s.
Co-Main Event: Shevchenko vs. Maia
Valentina Shevchenko fought a five-round masterclass. She controlled distance with her Muay Thai range game, picked at the body with kicks, mixed in clinch knees against the fence, and refused to let Jennifer Maia generate any sustained offence. The strike count after five rounds: Shevchenko 100, Maia 31.
All three scorecards were lopsided: 49-46, 49-45, 49-45 for the champion. The 49-45 cards indicated at least one 10-8 round on those scorecards. Shevchenko's third women's flyweight title defense was the most one-sided of her reign to that point and confirmed her as one of the most dominant champions in any UFC weight division. She would defend the title four more times before losing it to Alexa Grasso at Noche UFC in September 2023.
Full Results
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Deiveson Figueiredo (c) def. Alex Perez — Submission (guillotine choke) — R1, 1:57 — Flyweight Title
Valentina Shevchenko (c) def. Jennifer Maia — Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45) — Women's Flyweight Title
Paul Felder def. N/A (Correction: Rafael dos Anjos def. Paul Felder via Split Decision — was scheduled but pulled; replacement was different) — Lightweight
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Katlyn Chookagian — Chookagian def. Calvillo via Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Women's Flyweight
Tim Means def. Mike Perry — Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27) — Welterweight
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Joaquin Buckley def. Jordan Wright — KO (knee & punches) — R1, 2:14 — Middleweight
Jonathan Pearce def. Kai Kamaka — Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) — Featherweight
Antonina Shevchenko def. Ariane Lipski — Submission (rear-naked choke) — R2, 3:45 — Women's Flyweight
Alan Jouban def. Jared Gooden — Unanimous Decision (30-27 ×3) — Welterweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Deiveson Figueiredo — $50,000 for the first-round guillotine submission of Alex Perez.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Joaquin Buckley — $50,000 for the flying-knee KO of Jordan Wright.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Antonina Shevchenko — $50,000 for the second-round rear-naked choke of Ariane Lipski.
Records & Milestones
• First numbered UFC pay-per-view in promotion history to be headlined by two flyweight title fights — men's and women's — on the same card.
• Figueiredo's first successful UFC Flyweight Championship defense — part of his eventual 2-2 four-fight series with Brandon Moreno.
• Figueiredo became the first UFC champion since 2010 to defend a world title within four months of winning it.
• Shevchenko's third successful women's flyweight title defense — part of a 7-fight 125-lb winning streak from 2018 to 2023.
• Joaquin Buckley's flying-knee KO of Jordan Wright was widely circulated as a Knockout of the Year contender for 2020, joining his August 2020 spinning-back-kick KO of Impa Kasanganay in the year's highlight reel.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 255 is remembered as the start of the Deiveson Figueiredo / Brandon Moreno era at flyweight. Figueiredo's submission of Perez at UFC 255, followed by his draw with Moreno three weeks later at UFC 256, opened a four-fight saga that would define the men's 125-pound division for the next two years. Figueiredo and Moreno would fight four total times — a draw, a Moreno submission win, a Figueiredo decision win, and a Moreno TKO win — producing one of the longest championship trilogies (well, quartet) in UFC history.
For Valentina Shevchenko, the Maia defense was business as usual in a championship reign that was, by then, three years deep and on a glide path toward all-time-great status. She would go on to defend the title against Jessica Andrade (UFC 261), Lauren Murphy (UFC 266), and Taila Santos (UFC 275) before losing it to Alexa Grasso. UFC 255 was the third of those eight title fights.
For Alex Perez, the loss began a downturn. He fought just three times in the four years that followed, losing twice and dealing with weight-management issues that eventually led him to step away from the flyweight ranks. He never received another UFC title shot.
FAQ
How did Figueiredo finish Alex Perez?
Arm-in guillotine choke from full mount at 1:57 of round one. Figueiredo opened with a low calf kick, level-changed off Perez's counter, secured an under-hook clinch, dragged Perez to the canvas, hip-escaped to top-side, and locked the choke. It was Figueiredo's second consecutive title-fight submission win (after the Benavidez sub in July 2020) and one of the cleanest first-round championship finishes of 2020.
Did Figueiredo really fight again three weeks later?
Yes. After defending the title at UFC 255 on November 21, 2020, Figueiredo fought Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 on December 12, 2020 — a three-week turnaround that was almost unprecedented for a UFC champion in the modern era. The fight ended in a majority draw, leading to a rematch at UFC 263 in June 2021 that Moreno won. The two would meet a third and fourth time, completing one of the longest championship quartets in UFC history.
What was Joaquin Buckley's flying-knee KO?
A flying-knee strike landed on Jordan Wright at 2:14 of round one of their preliminary-card middleweight bout. The KO was Buckley's second-straight Performance bonus winner of 2020 (after his viral spinning-back-kick KO of Impa Kasanganay in August). The image of Wright collapsing under the knee became one of the most circulated UFC highlight clips of the year and earned a Knockout of the Year nomination across major MMA media outlets.
Was Valentina Shevchenko's win really that lopsided?
Yes. Final significant strikes: Shevchenko 100, Maia 31. Two of the three scorecards (49-45) included 10-8 rounds. Shevchenko controlled distance, picked at the body with kicks, mixed in clinch knees, and refused to let Maia generate sustained offence. It was the most decisive of her women's flyweight title defenses to that point.
Did Alex Perez ever get another title shot?
No. UFC 255 was Perez's lone UFC title-fight opportunity. He went 1-2 in three subsequent UFC bouts and stepped away from the flyweight ranks in 2022. The Figueiredo fight remained the peak of his career.
How does UFC 255 compare to UFC 254?
UFC 255 drew approximately 350,000 PPV buys — a quarter of UFC 254 from four weeks earlier (1.4 million). The dropoff reflected the absence of a Khabib-level main event and the inherent commercial limits of a flyweight-headlined card. UFC 255 sat near the bottom of 2020's PPV numbers but produced consistent in-cage quality across both title fights and the Buckley KO.
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