Alberto Mina is ready to return to the UFC’s octagon in March or April this year.
The Brazilian welterweight has been with the UFC since 2014 but has only made it to the cage on four occasions thus far. Most recently, Mina had his undefeated record broken by Ramazan Emeev at UFC 224. It was the first dent in Mina’s career that was, until then, perfect through 13 fights, including three with the UFC.
Speaking to John Hyon Ko, Mina explained that the defeat left him with a ‘bitter’ feeling, sharing that he was disappointed with the poor result.
“For many different issues, my last fight was in May. Unfortunately, it was my first defeat. It was kind of bitter, kind of bad. I was kind of sad. But I believe it helped me, as well, to grow as a fighter,” Mina shared.
“I’m back to Hong Kong, I’m planning to fight in March or April. Of course, I want to do everything correctly – recovering completely from injuries I had since my previous camp.”
“I want to be on track very soon. And then I want to do at least two more fights this year.”
If Mina competes twice in 2019, it would be the first year since 2006 in which he has competed more than once. In 2006, he secured two victories in the United Kingdom regional scene as well as a win in a regional event in Paraiba. Since then, he’s averaged less than one fight per year.
Although Mina has always competed as a welterweight in the UFC, he’s now beginning to explore the possibility of sliding up and down weight classes in the future, with the aim of securing a ‘big fight.’
“I’m still studying the possibility to move categories. You see a lot of guys who move up and down categories and that’s a possibility for me,” Mina explained.
“At the moment, I’m looking for a good fight and a big fight.”
Mina’s aware, however, that his first-ever defeat isn’t going to do him any favors in the eyes of the matchmakers. This adversity might explain why Mina’s desperate to get back into the cage and start his climb up the rankings.
“In regards to names, I want to try and fight someone close to the top-10, top-15. They probably won’t give me this in the next fight. So, I probably need one fight more, and then I’ll call out someone.”