The 28-year-old Hawaiian admits he steps into the cage with a sizable chip on his shoulder, but when you know the details of the road he’s taken to arrive opposite Bektic this weekend, you can understand why Ige heads into the cage feeling slighted.
He won seven of his first eight appearances, collecting six finishes along the way. One of those victories came at an event featured in Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Fight’ series, though his impressive showing didn’t garner him a call from the UFC.
Neither did his third-round submission win over Luis Gomez early in the first season of the Contender Series. Competing on the first event, where all five bouts ended inside the distance, Ige sat in the back while Karl Roberson and Geoff Neal were awarded contracts, filled with emotions.
“I showed everything in my fight,” he said regarding his win over Gomez. “I showed that I can strike, I showed that I can wrestle, I showed that I can grapple, scramble, have strength, toughness, durability.
“I showed everything possible in that fight and when I walked out of there with my hand raised, I was so emotional because in my heart, I truly felt like I was going to get picked and my dream was going to come true. To see those guys get chosen before me was devastating.”
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Although he didn’t leave Las Vegas that night with a contract, he had made an impression with the UFC brass, and six months later, Ige crossed the threshold into the UFC Octagon for the first time, subbing in for Charles Rosa opposite fellow newcomer and Contender Series alum Julio Arce at UFC 220 in Boston.
After coming away from his debut on the wrong side of a unanimous decision loss, Ige turned the frustrations of not getting selected on the Contender Series and stumbling out of the gate in his first UFC bout into a catalyst for the impressive run of success he carries into this weekend’s showdown with Bektic at the home of the Houston Rockets.
“That lit a fire in me that I came out in my next fight, starched the guy in 50 seconds and was like, ‘What’s up? I’m here now,’ and that’s the way I’ve been fighting ever since,” said Ige, who made quick work of Mike Santiago at UFC 225 and hasn’t looked back, adding impressive wins over Jordan Griffin, Danny Henry, and Kevin Aguilar to his resume. “I want to show that I can be the champion and they should have picked me.”
He also wants to force people — fans, media, fellow fighters — to broaden their perspectives when it comes to recognizing talent and paying attention to fighters.
“It’s not that I feel disrespected, but that sometimes my name gets brushed under the rug,” explained Ige. “I’m going out there, I’m on a four-fight winning streak, I’m stopping guys or out-working guys, dominating guys, and I feel like I don’t have the respect that I deserve.
“I know I have to go out there and earn it — and I feel I’ve been doing so — but it’s just kind of the way I’ve formed my fighting style now: I go out there with a chip on my shoulder that I want to prove that I belong.”
Saturday’s matchup presents an interesting contrast in terms of the attention a fighter can receive as they’re climbing the ranks, as Bektic was tabbed as a future contender long before he arrived in the Octagon and held out as a potential champion after maintaining his undefeated record through his first four UFC appearances.
But the competitors Bektic beat during his initial four-fight winning streak in the UFC — Chas Skelly, Paul Redmond, Lucas Martins, and Russell Doane — were no more accomplished or acclaimed than the group Ige has beaten in advance of their showdown on Saturday; Bektic just had more buzz and an unbeaten record.
