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Andre Fili on why he stepped in vs. Dan Ige: ‘I’m here to win a bunch of money, get a number next to my name’

February 8, 2024

Andre Fili sees nothing but incentives in his short-notice opportunity against Dan Ige.

Fili (23-10 MMA, 11-9 UFC) replaced Lerone Murphy on about three weeks’ notice to take on Ige (17-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 236 (ESPN+) co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Fili is coming off a first-round TKO of Lucas Almeida this past December at UFC 296 and is happy to kick off 2024 with a big opportunity against top 15-ranked featherweight Ige.

“I have the utmost respect for him, and it wasn’t a fight I was hunting,” Fili said at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 236 media day. “I wasn’t calling him out. They presented the fight, and I took it. It’s time to get paid and it’s time to get a big win.

“It’s time to get these big opportunities rolling and keep this momentum going. I’m incredibly excited. It’s a great opponent, it’s a great card, it’s a great everything, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Fili, 33, still has aspirations of becoming UFC champion. He will look to string together a winning streak for the first time since 2019.

“All these fights are a chance at development, at growth, at testing yourself, at challenging yourself, at overcoming those challenges,” Fili said. “That’s what excited me. Also, getting f*cking paid excited me. So running up two checks back-to-back at the beginning of the year and still having time to fight two more times this year, that really excited me.

“It’s a great matchup, but I’m just so focused on myself it kind of doesn’t matter who it is. My last fight, I was basically the first fight on the card, now I’m the co-main event. Who cares? A fight’s a fight, and I’m here to win a bunch of money, get a number next to my name, and most of all, just make myself and the people around me proud.”