LAS VEGAS – Andre Fili still thinks he’s destined to achieve greatness in the UFC featherweight division, but he can’t do it without being active.
Fili (21-8 MMA, 9-7 UFC) has traveled an up-and-down road inside the octagon since joining the promotion in October 2013, but he remains confident the best is still ahead going into his matchup with Daniel Pineda (27-14 MMA, 4-5 UFC) on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 190, which takes place at the UFC Apex and streams on ESPN+.
“Touchy” is coming off a loss to Bryce Mitchell in October, but he intends to get back on the winning track when he clashes with a fellow action fighter in Pineda.
Ahead of the bout, Fili attended UFC Fight Night 190 media day on Wednesday and discussed fixing the “bad habits” revealed in his loss to Mitchell, the matchup with “dangerous” Pineda, and some of his irritation with having to wait eight months between fights in what feels like a common career trend.
“I did not need any time off, and if anyone’s listening, Sean Shelby or anybody else, please, God, don’t give me any more time off,” Fili told MMA Junkie. “I didn’t need time off then, I don’t need time off now. I want to stay as active as possible for anyone listening. I just want to fight four or five times a year. I would fight every two months if I could. … I really love fighting, and doing it twice a year just doesn’t do it for me. I really want to be more active. It’s been frustrating. I don’t really know what to do to make that happen. I’ve come off big wins and been gone for six months, and I’ve come off tough losses and been gone for six months. I really don’t know what the recipe is.
“Maybe I just got to start calling people out or saying a bunch of corny sh*t. Because I see dude’s doing a bunch of corny sh*t that get a bunch of attention, I can’t do it. I can’t sell my soul. I can’t do corny sh*t consistently over and over just to get retweets and attention and whatever. I don’t know. I don’t know what I’ve got to do. I thought getting in exciting fights would be enough to get me back in here every two or three months, but I’m not going to change who I am. I’m just going to keep doing what I do and get better at it, and the real will always shine through. The real will outlast the fake.”
Check out the video above to see Fili’s complete interview ahead of UFC Fight Night 190.
UFC Fight Night 190’s Andre Fili pleads for activity: ‘Please, God, don’t give me any more time off’