It’s rare for someone who was knocked out in the first round to feel worthy of a rematch.
But Diego Brandao, who takes on Jimmy Hettes at UFC on Fox tomorrow night, is just that kind of fellow.
Speaking to Combate, he said:”The best path against Hettes is to pressure him and that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m trained and I’ll be a different Diego.
“I’ll prove it by fighting. I’m focused, I know what I want to do with my life, I want to fight for the UFC. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I really want to be in the UFC. You will see different things this fight.
“I miss fighting, that’s the truth. I worked too hard to get where I am, I was the first Brazilian to win TUF and I can’t wait to see Aldo fight Conor. Aldo will take it and I hope Conor will give me a rematch after Aldo kicks his ass”.
The Brazilian was on the receiving end of a four-minute TKO when he faced Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC Dublin but he is keen on redemption and believes that The Notorious will be in over his head when he meets featherweight champion Jose Aldo in July.
“Conor has no idea what is like to fight for five rounds and I wasn’t trained when we fought. I’m not looking to give excuses, but he’s not all that he says he is. He didn’t get in my head when we fought, I just wasn’t there. But that’s in the past, he won, kudos to him. He earned his title shot, but he’s not all that.
“There’s a lot of people ahead of him, Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes and Brandao, who is coming back. Aldo will take him down and wear him out. He’s really bad at jiu-jitsu. I don’t know what was up with me, I wasn’t well, but I’ll show I can strike and grapple on my next fight. I hope Conor loses and accepts the rematch with me”.
With McGregor suggesting a move up to lightweight as his next move and Brandao not even among the top 15 of UFC featherweights, we’re not holding our breath on this one coming to fruition.
