Q&A: Ignacio Bahamondes explains why he wants Benoit Saint-Denis next

At 27 years old, Chilean fighter Ignacio Bahamondes is one of the rising stars of the UFC.

He boasts three finishes in his last three fights, with the most recent one a submission victory in less than three minutes at UFC 313 against Jalin Turner, who retired following the loss.

DAZN News caught up with the fighter, who trains under UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.

DAZN News: You are ranked 15th in the most stacked division in the UFC, how far do you think you can go?

Ignacio Bahamondes: I always tell everyone, this is one of the hardest divisions in the promotion. So I’m happy to now be in the top 15 of this division, and I'm excited to see what's coming. I want the belt, for sure. And not just the belt, dominate the division and then move up to 170 [pounds]. I'm a big lightweight, so eventually, my body is not going to let me keep cutting to 155. But when I move up, I’m going to do it as a champion. I'm going for the belt. It’s already written. Now I just need to keep doing what I do, keep performing well, and I’m going to get there. I’m 100% sure.

DN: You defeated Jalin Turner by submission in 2 minutes and 29 seconds, can you explain what was going through your mind?

IB: Honestly, it wasn’t one of my best days. I wasn’t feeling like I normally do. But my coach always tells me, whenever you feel 60%, you have to make that 60% feel like 100%. That’s how we train. Even on our bad days, we go to work, we go and perform. That’s what I did. Honestly, I knew that if we went to the ground, I was going to submit him.

DN: Turner retired after this loss, did that hit you hard?

IB: Yeah. I was a little surprised because he’s a really good fighter. He’s still young. He still has a lot more to give to this sport. I told him, "Don’t do that. If you need to, come down here to Chicago and stay for a couple of months. We’re going to show you we are a different team. We are a family. We want to give you the attention you deserve. And after that, you can make a decision. But maybe we can help you love this again."

DN: Belal Muhammad was in your corner, how is Belal as a coach?

IB: For me, having the welterweight champion of the world in my corner is a blessing. Having him as a brother and as a friend is a blessing too. And he knows me better than anyone else in training because we train together. We do all the classes together. He’s my main training partner, and I’m his. So he knows when to ask for things. He knows when I can do things and when I cannot. So he’s like an extension of myself—looking from the outside, it’s like hacking the system.

DN: How is your training with him? How is he as a fighter?

IB: People don’t realize how good Belal’s pressure is until they have him in front of them. A lot of people talk: "Oh, his technique is this, his technique is that." But when you have him in front of you, it’s a completely different game. His pressure, his nonstop movement—even the most talented striker will struggle against him because that’s his style. That’s what pushes us as a team. We bring pressure. We always go, go, go. We don’t just go for the finish—we go for domination, complete domination.

DN: When you won your fight, he was even happier than you. Can you talk about that?

IB: Yeah, he’s like my big brother. He’s been teaching me a lot—not just about fighting, but about life too. He’s been helping me become a better person, a better man. I saw the video, and he was so excited. And he’s the same whenever he fights. I get more nervous when he fights than when I do. I know what I can do, so I’m not nervous. But when he fights, I want to jump in the cage just like he did this past Saturday.

DN: You finished your last fight in one round. When can we see you fight again, in three months, four months?

IB: Yeah. I would like to fight again in August. I like that month because good things always happen to me in August. I’ve fought in that month before, and I have good experiences. It’s the month I was born. It’s the month my kid was born. I just like it, and I feel like I need to be back in August.

DN: If tomorrow you get a title shot against his friend, Islam Makhachev, will he still be fully behind you?

IB: Yes, I know. We talked about it. I told him, "Dude, now I’m ranked 15th, now I’m going for the belt." He told me, "I got you, my brother. You’re my brother. He’s my friend—it’s different." At 100%, he’s going to be in my corner.

DN: Three finishes in your last three fights. Who do you want next?

IB: Now we’re talking. There are a lot of fights I like. Some of them are much bigger. A dream fight for me would be Max Holloway. I’m not in a position to ask for that name yet—it’s way too big. But I like [Benoit] Saint-Denis. I like that fight for me. I think it’s a really good fight, even for the division, even for the promotion. It would be an awesome fight, me against him. If they want to make it happen in France, I would be more than happy to go fight there. That’s what I want. I think after beating him in France, and winning, I can ask for whatever I want, or at least something that gets me closer to the belt. So it would be an interesting fight for me and my team.

DN: You left your home country, Chile, to chase your dream, but it still holds a very special place in your heart. What does Chile mean to you?

IB: It’s my everything. I left my country when I was 16 years old, still a kid. But they have always been with me, in every fight, in every challenge I’ve faced. Even when I lost, even when I won, they were always there. They’ve always been a big part of my career. They deserve the best. That’s why every time I go out there, I try to do my best, not just for me, but for my country, for my people, my fans.

DN: You seem very positive, very happy, where does that joy for life come from?

IB: I’m doing what I love. I love this sport, I love fighting, I love facing the best in the world. That’s why I’m in the UFC, not for the fame, not for the money, but because I want to challenge the best in the world. And I’m happy doing it. Every fight week, I’m living my dream. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was four years old. Being here makes me so happy. I feel like a kid in a toy store.

DN: Your name is Ignacio Bahamondes. Where does your nickname, La Jaula, come from?

IB: "La Jaula" means "the cage" in Spanish. That was my dad’s nickname. They called him "La Jaula" because he worked in a restaurant called "The Golden Cage", La Jaula Dorada. Whenever he fought, all his friends would go watch him, and they started calling him "La Jaula" after the place where he worked. "Jaula, Jaula", and that’s how he got the nickname. Then, when he retired, he passed it down to me.

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