Diego Brandao to Conor McGregor: 'C'mon, bro. Nobody is afraid of you'

UFC featherweight Diego Brandao is used to being an out-of-towner, so he isn’t exactly worried about fighting in his next opponent’s hometown.

“For me, it’s like driving from San Antonio to Austin,” Brandao (18-9 MMA, 4-2 UFC), Brazilian who now lives in Texas and faces Conor McGregor (14-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in the headliner of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 46 event, told MMAjunkie.

“I want to thank the UFC for the fight against Conor in his hometown,” Brandao added. “For me, it’s no big deal. I come here to do one job, no matter what’s outside (the cage) or in the crowd. I just come here to show him what’s up, to show him I’m here.

“You think you’re good, and I think I’m good, as well. I think we’re going to have a great fight.”

Irish featherweight McGregor, who signed with the UFC just this past year, is returning to his hometown after a two-year absence to headline the UFC Fight Pass-streamed event at The O2 in Dublin. His presence atop the card drove a quick sellout and puts Brandao in the role of potential spoiler.

McGregor has garnered a tremendous amount of hype in his relatively short career with the UFC and could be fighting for a title sooner than later given his fan-friendly style and strong base of support. But that won’t happen any time soon if he falls short to Brandao, who three years ago won “The Ultimate Fighter 14? but has since encountered struggles both in and out of the cage.

Brandao, who accepted the McGregor fight as a replacement for the injured Cole Miller, hasn’t fought since a knockout loss to Dustin Poirier in December at UFC 168. Beforehand, he was involved in a car accident and threatened to stab Poirier at the event’s weigh-ins.

The Brazilian now says he should have pulled out of the fight and claims he’s turned around his career by training in Texas and Albuquerque, N.M., where he works with the famed Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA team.

“I want to prepare myself for the next challenge, and I want to prove to the UFC, hey guys, next time I’m in an event, I’m OK,” Brandao said.

Brandao disputes an idea pushed by McGregor that top UFC featherweights are scared to fight him. In a recent MMAFighting video, the Irish fighter added a dig at Brando, claiming the “TUF” winner was already cut from the promotion and “was in limbo in case something happened.”

McGregor also confidently claimed he would be UFC featherweight champion by the end of this year. A showdown could be in store if he’s victorious; the UFC flew top contender Cub Swanson to Dublin, after all.

But like Swanson, who’s repeatedly gone at McGregor in the press, Brandao questions whether his opponent is deserving of the attention he’s thus far received.

“It’s not about Conor,” Brandao said. “I think Conor, this guy is more hype. Poirier is top five, and Swanson is top five. Who is Conor? I think this is the way we need to look at it. I think the type of guy that I am, and the explosive way I fight, that’s the reason why (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva thought it would be great.

“But I don’t think any guy is afraid to fight Conor. C’mon, bro. Nobody is afraid of you.”

Brandao said he kept bugging the UFC for a fight and was told to stay ready if the promotion called on short notice. When Miller dropped out, he was chosen as a fill-in.

“He’s only talked trash until now,” Brandao said of McGregor. “But that doesn’t affect me. I remain focused and positive. I have all the skills needed to submit him or knock him out. I’ll press him for all five rounds, looking for victory.

“I’ve been fighting internationally for a while, so this is nothing new. I don’t want to go in there and knock him out in the first round. That would be no fun for me. I want to go in there and punch until somebody breaks.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 46, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Christian Stein contributed to this story.)