In this exclusive interview with Fightful's James Lynch, Andre Fili (17-5) discusses his upcoming fight against Dennis Bermudez (16-7) at UFC on FOX 27 on Jan. 27. Andre also talks about how he spent the holiday season, his training camp for this fight, a potential matchup against Jeremy Kennedy and what's next for him.
With UFC On Fox 27 taking place later this month, an in training camp Fili still had to find a way to balance training with family obligations throughout the holiday season.
“I thought I found a good balance, I got to see my family and my girlfriend’s family. I did the family thing, I also trained on Christmas Day and I also trained on New Years. The holidays didn’t get in the way of training, but I still found time to see my family. I have a pretty small family that live close to me at least, so, you know it wasn’t a big celebration, it was just being together and exchanging some presents. I have a baby sister who is really close to me, so I got her a long board, that was cool. I got her her first long board and taught her how to ride it a little bit. I had a cool Christmas morning…got to spend some time with family and exchange gifts and teach my sister how to long board a little bit. Then it was right back to training, it was a good balance, I got my training sessions in on Christmas, on New Years, I trained on Thanksgiving. It doesn’t really matter, it never really stops,” says Fili.
Fili fights the aforementioned Dennis Bermudez at UFC On Fox 27, an opponent who enters the bout ranked #11 in the featherweight division.
While Bermudez enters the bout ranked in the top fifteen, one goal Fili has is to take his opponents spot in the rankings.
“I jumped on it (fighting Bermudez) as soon as they offered it to me, I love the fight and I love the match up. He’s a good fighter and I’m excited to come take his spot, that’s what it really comes down to,” says Fili.
UFC On Fox 27 takes place on Saturday, January 27 from the Specter Center in Charlotte, North Carolina with Ronaldo Souza and Derek Brunson headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox.
