\n
\nDiego Ferreira, UFC Vegas 45 weigh-in Credit: Alex Behunin\/Cageside Press<\/p>\n
When Diego Ferreira steps into the cage on Saturday, it\u2019ll mark his first fight after celebrating 12 years inside the UFC. The Brazilian opened his UFC career with a 38 second win over Ultimate Fighter winner Colton Smith \u2013 winning a Performance of the Night bonus \u2013 all the way back in 2014. Six bonuses and over a decade\u2019s more of fights, and he\u2019s still ticking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While his performances speak for themselves and there has never been a question if he belonged, a run to the UFC \u2013 never mind one this long \u2013 was never something he imagined.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was never my intention. That\u2019s what I say sometimes, it is all God\u2019s plan because I never thought about fighting UFC. I thought I like World Series [of Fighting] or Bellator \u2013 those were the doors I was kind of looking to go through,\u201d Ferreira explained. \u201cBut I never thought about fighting in the UFC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Part of the reason he didn\u2019t really consider fighting at the top oif the game was because he never thought MMA was going to be his occupation. While he wanted to dabble in it, he saw a different way of life for himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI never thought I was going to have mixed martial arts as a job. For me, my work was going to be, \u2018oh, I gotta be just another Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach \u2013 open a gym, be comfortable in this,\u201d he said. \u201cBut looking back, it was a great experience and I never thought about it \u2013 12 years in the UFC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Now, with plenty of experience under his belt, he\u2019s not ready to pack it up. In fact, he\u2019s feeling better than ever going into a bout with Billy Quarantillo this weekend. And that\u2019s a bout, he believes, could win him another bonus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe likes to throw down and I\u2019m gonna be meeting him out there. So whatever is coming first, coming first. I want to put on Fight of the Night,\u201d Ferreira said. \u201cI know my last fight, it could have gone my way. I was there and I know he\u2019s going to be the same way, thinking the same way. And so both, we\u2019re going to have the same mentality. So I think we\u2019ve got to meet in the middle and throw down \u2013 whoever is going to go down first.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n