VANCOUVER, British Columbia – [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] was in for a tough test Saturday at UFC 289 and is relieved he came out on top.
On the pay-per-view main card at Rogers Arena, Ige (17-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) defeated Nate Landwehr (17-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) and embarked on another multifight winning streak.
Ige dropped Landwehr multiple times in the first two rounds. Landwehr hung tough, though, and managed to stay in there with Ige for the full three rounds.
“I had him so hurt,” Ige told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I had him hurt in Round 1. I hurt him in Round 2 pretty bad. I saw him wobbling back to the corner. My coach Eric told me, ‘Look at that mother-effer. Look at him. It takes a lot out of you when hurt a guy like that (with) just adrenaline to go for the kill. He’s scrambly, dude. He’s dangerous. Honestly, when that guy gets hurt, he’s even more dangerous because he just keeps coming. I should’ve probably choked him out.”
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As he spoke backstage, Ige wore the damage of the battle: scratches, bruising, and swelling covered his face. As he looked into the future, Ige plans to take some time off, get better, and resume his journey toward his ultimate goal of UFC gold.
“I’ll do a little bit of healing,” Ige said. “I’m going back to Hawaii with my family on Thursday. I’m going to spend 10 days there with the fam. I’ll just rest, recover, recharge. Man, I’ve been f*cking grinding my ass off since literally my last fight just because I want to be the best version of myself. And it takes a lot out of you. You’ve prepared so hard for one day.
“I want to be better than that. I want to be better than what I’ve shown. Even though I’ve done good things, I’m hard on myself. I’m my biggest critic. I just want to be better. Becoming better comes with taking time off and just healing up and recharging my soul and my mind.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.