Diego Brandao will feel nostalgic re-entering Palms Casino Resort on Saturday night to defend his Tuff-N-Uff featherweight belt against Kai Kamaka.
Brandao wanted to “try to fix my life” when he quit Russian MMA earlier this year to once again enter the regional circuit in the United States, and has since won and defended his 145-pound championship with a pair of flashy knockouts over rising prospects Jamie Siraj and Canaan Kawaihae.
On Saturday, he headlines Tuff-N-Uff 149 at the same casino where he submitted Dennis Bermudez to win the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2011.
“I’m fighting where I became [TUF] champion, where I made my family proud, where I bought my mom her house,” Brandao told MMA Fighting. “I’m ready, man. It’s going to be UFC-level, and I want to be in the UFC. This is my opportunity. This fight is for my family — to earn my place in the UFC. In my mind, this is the Ultimate Fighter finale.”
“I’m really excited to defend my belt for the second time,” he continued. “The confidence the promotion has shown in me, the opportunities they’ve given, there’s no way to take that for granted. I’ve got everything I need to put on a show. To get back to the UFC, there’s no other way around it, it’s just throwing down. They’re throwing prospects my way, so I’m really fired up for this fight.”
Brandao expected to meet with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby after his latest knockout. Instead of sitting and waiting for a call, he opted to keep the momentum going in 2025. His previous opponents were riding long winning streaks, and UFC veteran Kamaka enters the cage off of two victories, having gone 6-1 in Bellator and 2-1 in PFL.
“They told me they’d call if someone got injured,” Brandao said. “I was anxious at first, but then I decided to focus on my life and my training. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. My name is already on their table. Everything happens in God’s time.
“My focus is on the UFC because I think I still have plenty of fights left in me. There are some guys I still want to face there but I’m not going to mention names anymore because they think they’re too tough. I got to the UFC first, I had better wins, more bonuses and awards than those guys. But I’ll stay quiet. Let’s just fight. When I get there, then I’ll talk about them.”
Brandao competed in the UFC for many years, going 6-4 inside the octagon with high-profile bouts against Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. Training under Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in Albuquerque, the 38-year-old veteran is confident he will do just fine in a UFC return.
“It’s going to be emotional because if I come back,” Brandao said, “I’m coming back for the championship. If I step foot in the UFC again, I’m going to be champion. We’ve got Steve Garcia and, Aaron Pico here at the gym, we train together, but if I return to the UFC, I think I have a better shot at the belt. Not because I’m better than my training partners, but I think they still need to show a bit more to reach the top 13. If I get one good fight, two good fights in the UFC, I believe I can reach the belt faster.”
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