Diego Pereira Brandão is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2005, he formerly competed for the UFC, RIZIN, and Fight Nights Global. He was the winner of Spike TV's.
Brandão made his MMA debut against Michel Bastos, winning via submission. He went 3-1 before fighting against UFC veteran Ronys Torres. He lost the fight by TKO due to punches. He then fought longtime UFC veteran Brian Foster and won via KO in the first round. Following the contest he won 6 and lost four of his next ten fights, with 3 wins by KO, 2 by submission and 1 by decision, before signing with the UFC. Brandão later became a member of Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In 2011, Brandão signed with the UFC to compete on. In the first episode, Brandão fought Jesse Newell to gain entry into the Ultimate Fighter house. Brandão quickly defeated Newell via first round knockout. He was the number one featherweight pick for Team Bisping. Brandão proved to be a loose cannon with confrontations with Marcus Brimage and Steven Siler. In the fifth episode it was announced that he would fight Siler on episode six. In this fight Diego charged out of the gate with a flying knee and knocked Siler unconscious 30 seconds into the first round with a left hook. With this win he advanced to the semi finals to fight former WEC fighter, Bryan Caraway. Brandão defeated Caraway via KO due to a flying knee and follow up punches late in the first round. With the win over Caraway, Brandão moved on to the finale against Dennis Bermudez.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Brandão officially made his UFC debut on December 3, 2011, at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale against Dennis Bermudez to determine the first ever featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 14. After a back-and-forth first round Brandão was knocked down and hit with heavy shots on the ground until he caught Bermudez with an armbar, and quickly forced the tapout. With his performance, Brandão was awarded Fight of the Night andSubmission of the Night honors, giving him a total of $80,000 in bonuses. During the post-fight interview Diego proclaimed of his mother; "The only thing on my mind buy her house". Brandão fought Darren Elkins on May 26, 2012, at UFC 146. Brandão lost the fight via unanimous decision. Brandão fought and defeated Joey Gambino on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153 via unanimous decision. Brandão faced Pablo Garza on April 6, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 9.. Brandão faced Daniel Pineda on August 17, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 26. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. Brandão faced Dustin Poirier on December 28, 2013, at UFC 168. There was some bad blood between the two that was evident during the staredown at the weigh-in, with Poirier claiming Brandão had threatened to "stab me in the neck." Brandão weighed in at 153 pounds, seven pounds over the accepted 146-pound limit for a featherweight non-title fight. Brandão would continue to cut weight and weighed in an hour later, but could only get down to 151.5 pounds. He was fined 25 percent of his purse, but the bout went on as scheduled. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. Brandão was expected to face Will Chope on March 23, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 38. However, Chope was released from UFC when documents were released that showed Chope was discharged from the U.S. Air Force for domestic violence towards his ex-wife. Brandão was expected to face promotional newcomer Brian Ortega on May 31, 2014, at. However, Brandão pulled out of the bout in the days leading up to the event citing an injury. Due to the late nature of the change, officials did not try to find a replacement and Ortega was pulled from the card as well. Brandão faced Conor McGregor on July 19, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 46, replacing an injured Cole Miller. Brandão lost the fight via TKO in the first round. Brandão was expected to face Jimy Hettes on January 31, 2015, at UFC 183. However, the fight was canceled right before the event started, as Hettes passed out backstage. He was taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. Subsequently, the bout with Hettes was rescheduled for April 18, 2015, at UFC on Fox 15. Brandão won the fight due to a doctor stoppage between the first and second round. Brandão faced Katsunori Kikuno on September 27, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 75. He dropped his opponent in the bout's opening seconds and followed up with a flurry of punches earning a TKO stoppage. The win also earned him his first Performance of the Night bonus award. Brandão faced Brian Ortega on January 2, 2016, at UFC 195. After controlling the first two rounds with his striking, Brandão lost the fight via submission in the third round. On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Brandao had tested positive for marijuana stemming from an in-competition test on January 2. On April 28, 2016, Brandao was released from the UFC on account of a felony arrest.
Fight Nights Global
On October 20, 2016, Brandão signed a contract to fight Russian mixed martial artist Rasul Mirzaev. However, on December 3, Mirzaev pulled out of the bout for unknown reason. Brandão defeated Murad Machaev on January 28, 2017, at Fight Nights 58.
