More importantly, with his first UFC loss and two years away from the sport in his rear-view mirror, he can focus on the dream of every fighter – to become a world champion.
“Every time I go to the Octagon for a fight, I feel like the fight is like stairs,” Vendramini explains. “You go up and up and up. If I win this fight, I feel like people will start to know me – like the president, like the matchmakers – and say, ‘Oh, this guy is good.’ And I will one hundred percent KO or submit this guy, so two in a row, two finishes, I feel I have something special. I don’t feel like I’m just a fighter going into UFC, fighting a couple fights and it’s ‘Bye, Luigi’ or retire. I feel like I will do good and I feel like I’m growing. I want to grow slowly, get more fights and in three, four, five years, I’m at the top of the world.”
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It’s an odd patience from someone so young, but it’s also a smart approach. Only a select few have hit the gas and made it to the top without crashing soon after. Like his father before him, Luigi Vendramini knows that this sport is a marathon, not a sprint.
“I see many athletes say, hard work, hard work, hard work,” Luigi said. “Everybody does hard work. Every athlete, every fighter, every working guy, they work hard. But the difference between me and another fighters is that I know how to pay the price. I don’t smoke, I don’t use drugs, I don’t drink, I don’t eat fast food, and I train every day. If I’m sick, if I’m bad, if I’m hurt, I train. So my difference is that I don’t want a normal life. I want success, I want to be a winner, I want to be the best. I want to make real money and change my family’s life and my life. This is my difference. I know how to pay the price.”
