LAS VEGAS – Moments after he finished the task at hand, Joanderson Brito turned his attention to what’s next.
Saturday at UFC Fight Night 212, Brito (13-3-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) defeated newcomer Lucas Alexander (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) via rear-naked choke submission at 2:12 of Round 1.
Quick work completed, Brito took advantage of his in-cage interview when he called for a fight against Dan Ige at the upcoming UFC 283 event in Rio de Janeiro.
“The styles match up,” Brito told reporters at a post-fight news conference. “You can say sometimes that a fight may be a mismatch here or there, but no. The styles match up. Our styles and our game plans and styles and our games match. He’s a guy who’s a striker. He’s a guy who uses a lot of his boxing. He moves around a lot – a guy who is so experienced. So I just think people will really enjoy a fight between us.”
Brito, 27, has won in back-to-back first-round finishes against Alexander and longtime UFC fighter Andre Fili. Meanwhile, Ige (15-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) is a UFC-ranked featherweight on a three-fight losing skid.
Ige, 31, took a comical approach to Brito’s callout. Ige reenacted the famous “Homer Simpson backs into the bushes” meme in an Instagram video.
Whether it’s Ige or someone else, Brito put emphasis on his location request rather than the opponent callout.
“I think it would be wonderful,” Brito said. “The Brazilian people, the Brazilian crowd is just so fiery. It’s just so lively. I think it would be a really good atmosphere for me to fight in – not just (against) Dan Ige, but anyone. If I actually fought on that card, they’d see that I’m entertaining. That’s what I’m going to bring and I think everybody would love to have that fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 212.
