Brandon Figueroa-Stephen Fulton II: Stats and Stakes

A rematch of one of 2021's best scraps

Outside of a small handful of fighters throughout history, everyone has to come back from a loss eventually. How they do it can be a line between a good career and something more than that.

In 2021, Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton squared off in a crowd-pleasing, closely contested unification battle at junior featherweight. Fulton pulled off the decision and two fights later found himself in one of the richest 122 pound fights in history.

Fulton was stopped for the first time.

In one fight since, Fulton came off the floor against Carlos Castro to earn a narrow, debatable split decision. Saturday (Amazon Prime PPV, 8 PM EST), on the undercard of the excellent light heavyweight clash between David Benavidez and David Morrell, he has a chance at a title in his second weight class. He also has a chance to further himself from his lone loss and show he’s moved past a loss to one of the best fighters of his time.

Figueroa responded to his first defeat on less shaky terms. He’s 3-0 since the Fulton loss with two stoppages. At featherweight, Figueroa looks fresher, stronger, and he’s now older and wiser as well. Can he avenge his lone defeat and maybe even put himself in the path of Japan’s big-money titan?

Inoue is inevitable for featherweight at some point. The winner on Saturday is anything but.

Let’s get into it.

Stats and Stakes