Lucas Almeida to veteran UFC 296 foe Andre Fili: 'You had your chance, it's my time now'
16/12/2023 23:00
Lucas Almeida believes his UFC 296 clash with Andre Fili will be the moment for some changing of the guard in the featherweight division.
The former Jungle Fight lightweight champion is just 2-0 under the UFC banner, and 14-2 overall in his career, and looks to make the most of his match with 20-time octagon veteran Fili this Saturday at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena to build his name in the organization.
"I'm coming to show what I got," Almeida said on MMA Fighting's Trocação Franca podcast. "He's already shown what he had, and it's my turn now. This guy has 20 UFC fights and I got two, man. It's my turn now. You had your chance, it's my time now. That's my focus, to go there and put on a show and look for the finish at all times. I'm not afraid to go toe-to-toe with him."
Fili has gone 10-9 with one no-contest in 20 octagon appearances since 2013, scoring victories over the likes of Dennis Bermudez, Myles Jury and Charles Jourdain but coming up short against top-ranked talents such as Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez and Calvin Kattar. Almeida stopped Michael Trizano — and pocketed a Fight of the Night bonus — in his UFC debut before losing to Pat Sabatini.
"I'm so happy to be fighting him, such an experienced fighter who likes to put on a show like I do," Almeida said. "This guy motivated me to train hard every single day, to study the fight, and I'm sure I'll be prepared when I get there."
Almeida was paired up against Fili in February but "Touchy" withdrew with an eye injury. The Brazilian had another match cancelled before eventually facing Sabatini in June, losing via submission. Almeida had to take some time off to fix a pre-existing knee injury, cancelling a UFC Paris match with William Gomis before returning on the final card of the years opposite Fili.
Almeida says he's "a new person now" after returning to his original team in Sorocaba, Brazil, and work with the same coaches that built him to joining the UFC. The 32-year-old featherweight admits maybe he wasn't ready to fight Fili then, but feels prepared now after a full kickboxing camp with the Brazilian national team.
"I started in kickboxing and I feel I was lacking that a bit in my fights," Almeida said. "I've always done combinations in my fights, hands and legs, but I kind of stopped doing that because I wasn't training much of kickboxing. I didn't even train kickboxing in Itapetininga, I was only doing boxing. I'm back to my roots now, my sequences, and I feel fast again."
"I'll go for the knockout all the time but I've worked on my jiu-jitsu as well," he added. "On the ground or on the feet, I'm always going for the finish. I'm sure it's going to be a war because he's tough an experienced, he knows how to fight and has faced big names, and I'm happy to be fighting him. I'm sure I'll be able to show my work against him."
