LAS VEGAS -- Dan Ige is one of the nicest, most humble people one could ever hope to meet. The UFC's 13th-ranked featherweight is a down-to-Earth guy who gives freely of his time, doesn't have an ounce of arrogance about him and is always willing to help.
Sometimes in his MMA career, though, he might have been too nice for his own good.
Ige entered his bout against Andre Fili Saturday at UFC Apex in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 86 having won just four of his last nine bouts. After improving his overall record to 14-2 following a May 16, 2020, win over Edson Barboza, Ige's gone 4-5 since, including a three-fight losing streak.
Ige, who was eager to leave Apex Saturday to get home to wife, Savannah, who is pregnant and due at any time now, sat down recently and did a self-assessment. He realized that he was giving others in his division too much credit and not giving himself enough.
He set out to do something about that and the first test came Saturday against Fili. Fili threw out a lazy jab midway through the first, and Ige made him pay for it. He came over the top of it with a blistering right hand that sent Ige down hard. He came in with a hammer fist before Jason Herzog jumped in and stopped it.
"It doesn't really matter, [whether it's] a prospect, ranked, champion, I have the ability to do that to anyone," Ige said. "Andre Fili's one of the best in the world. Andre Fili's been in the UFC for 10 years and could beat a champion on any given day. Tonight just wasn't his night. I put his lights out, but I have the ability to do that to anyone."
Ige had to figure out why he wasn't where he wanted to be. He was putting the work in every day and was fit and on point for every fight. As he got more technical, though, he said he began to try to set things up too perfectly. It was something he needed to change. He had to learn to trust his reads and react accordingly.
But as he thought about what he'd done, how he'd gotten to this stage and where he fits in the big picture, something dawned on him.
"It's me versus me now, man," Ige said. "I know that sounds cliché and people say that, But I can't put anyone on a pedestal any more. You know, sometimes I put these guys on a pedestal and found out when I got in there with them, 'You know, he's not that good,' or maybe, 'He doesn't hit that hard.' The UFC's job is to promote these fighters and make them look like unstoppable beasts.
"Like, you know they're going to put highlights of me out there just drilling dudes with one punch, and you just can't get in there with that mentality. You just have to go in there and focus on your own ability and use your own God-given gifts."
One of his abilities is the concussive power in his fists. He said he hit the PowerKube while he was warming up on Saturday and his score should be a record. Coaches from around the sport have spoken of the power he possesses.
So he knows that he can impact someone just by laying hands on him.
"I've always known I hit hard," Ige said. "From Day 1 when I walked into Xtreme Couture, I don't think [Coach] Ray Sefo was lying to me when he told me I hit like a middleweight. I just kind of believed it. Then you hear from other people who have no connection to Ray or aren't in his path, like Mark Henry or Henri Hooft or whoever, someone completely different, and they're like, 'Wow man, you can crack.' "
Suddenly, he's won three of his last four and there's a chance he'll move up in the divisional rankings when they're released on Tuesday. He wants to take several months off before getting back to work to be with his new child. He said when he's back he'd like to fight on the Mexican Independence Day card at The Sphere in Las Vegas that UFC CEO Dana White vows will be the greatest combat sports card ever.
And though he's had a few setbacks, the 32-year-old Ige knows he's not far from being in prime position again.
"That's the beauty of MMA," he said. "No one's perfect. It's not boxing. You don't have to have a perfect record [to get a title shot]. If I put together a couple of highlight-reel KOs, I'm right back up there in the mix as a contender."