Carlos Diego Ferreira Neves[5] (born January 18, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
[7] Born in Careiro da Várzea, Amazonas, Brazil, Ferreira grew up playing soccer, and his first martial art was capoeira.
He moved to the United States in 2008 to make a career out of jiu-jitsu like his idol Ronaldo Souza.
[9] Despite faring fairly well in jiu-jitsu competition, he never captured gold in big tournaments and was forced to start teaching the sport to make a living.
[9] Subsequently Ferreira made his professional mixed martial arts debut on April 15, 2011, when he faced Joseph Daily at STFC 15.
In his debut, Ferreira faced Colton Smith at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens on June 28, 2014.
[12] He won the fight via submission (rear-naked choke),[13] winning a Performance of the Night bonus for the victory.
[15] He won the back and forth battle via technical knockout due to punches,[16] winning another bonus (this time as Fight of the Night).
[24] However, Ferreira was removed from the fight on May 13 after it was announced that he had been flagged for a potential anti-doping policy violation.
[27] Ferreira faced Jared Gordon on February 18, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs.
It was announced that Ronson was pulled out of the fight due to being too heavy to safely make Lightweight and was released from UFC.
[38] However, Ferreira was forced out of the bout on weigh-in day as he was deemed medically unfit due to a weight cutting issue.
[55] The bout was named Fight of the Night, but Ferreira was not eligible to receive the award after missing weight and the full bonus went to Gillespie.
[56] Ferreira was scheduled to face Grant Dawson on October 2, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 193.
[58] Ferreira faced Mateusz Gamrot on December 19, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs.