Dan Ige says next fight will be early next year against ranked foe

LOS ANGELES – Dan Ige won’t be able to fulfill his 2019 goals entirely, but he’s giving himself a bit of an extension.

Ige (12-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) revealed that he has a fight lined up and will finally get the opportunity to face a ranked opponent in early 2020, pushing his goal a little later than what he had planned.

“I don’t have a bout agreement yet,” Ige said during media day for Dominance MMA. “But I can say that I will be fighting early next year and it will be against a ranked opponent.”

That doesn’t change a thing for the 28-year-old Hawaiian, who since dropping his UFC debut, has won four straight, finding himself on the cusp of the featherweight rankings.

“We write down goals and sometimes we don’t get them in within our timeline but that only makes me hungrier,” Ige said. “My goal was to be ranked by the end of 2019, and it looks like it’s going to happen in 2020, but I’m going to hit that goal regardless of the date and I will be ranked early next year.”

Ige is not represented by Dominance MMA, but instead assists the management team and head of the stable, Ali Abdelaziz. He has found a healthy balance of work and training, as he hopes to start 2020 with a big win.

For more from Ige, click on the video linked above.