UFC's Diego Rivas: After beating cancer, 'no fighter in the world will give me a bigger challenge'

This Saturday, Diego Rivas returns to the octagon on Saturday – almost one-and-a-half years after his most recent UFC bout. The time away, however, doesn’t mean Rivas wasn’t fighting.

In fact, Rivas was facing his toughest opponent yet.

At 24, fresh off a “Performance of the Night” flying-knee knockout of Noad Lahat at UFC Fight Night 82, a doctor’s visit to check on an injured knee resulted in Rivas discovering he had testicular cancer.

And, undefeated in his pro MMA run, Rivas saw himself dealing with questions much darker and deeper than his octagon career.

“It’s very hard to put into words,” Rivas told UFC.com‘s Thomas Gerbasi about the diagnosis. “I was shocked, obviously. Really, I had no immediate reaction. After the news settled in with me, I thought that my career was over. I thought nothing else was possible after my diagnosis, especially competing as an athlete.

“Honestly, I thought I was going to die.”

After surgery and chemotherapy, however, Rivas’ body fought back. And with his recovered health came the certainty that the adversity would only serve to push the Chilean prospect forward in his path.

“There was no doubt in my mind that I would fight again after that,” Rivas told UFC.com.

Rivas’ (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) prediction is set to materialize on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 114, where he meets bantamweight Jose Quinonez (5-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in an FS1-televised preliminary-card affair at Mexico City Arena in Mexico.

This is Rivas’ third UFC outing – before Lahad, he outpointed Rodolfo Rubio for a successful octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 56. He was also a Team Werdum member on “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” but lost in the opening round to Gabriel Benitez. He was on a 5-0 pro run, with four finishes, before entering the show.

The “Pitbull” comes into Saturday’s bout propelled by a few factors. There is the training he’s been putting in at Team Oyama since his move to California. There’s his baby on the way. There’s the support that the bantamweight gets from his compatriots in Chile – where MMA is still growing in popularity.

But there’s also knowing that, whoever might be standing in that opposite corner, Rivas has faced worse.

“I have so much respect for anyone who fights for the UFC – but no fighter in the world will give me a bigger challenge than the disease I overcame,” Rivas told UFC.com. “I’ve always been a confident fighter, but this diagnosis only strengthened my will.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 114, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.