Diego Brandao Admits He Threatened To Stab Dustin Poirier, Calls ‘Diamond’s’ UFC 168 Win ‘Lucky’

The Ultimate Fighter 14 winner Diego Brandao has had a mixed bag of results since his UFC debut in 2011, losing his inaugural Octagon bout to Darren Elkins before reeling off three consecutive wins over mid-level featherweight talent.

The streak earned Brandao a shot at then No. 6-ranked Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier at UFC 168, but the Brazilian slugger failed to capitalize on the huge opportunity. Coming in an alarming eight pounds over the 145-pound weight limit, Brandao cited a recent car accident for him being out of shape. Poirier was visibly angered at the weigh-ins, but news surfaced that it was due to more than just Brandao missing weight.

After Poirier outclassed Brandao in Las Vegas by finishing him with a flurry of punches for a first round TKO, reports came that “The Diamond” was angered because Brandao had threatened to stab him. And as odd as that may sound, Brandao actually admitted that it was true to MMAFighting.com:

“He was there, bouncing at the weigh-ins, staring at me. I told him backstage ‘if you ever do that again, I’ll stab you with a pen.’ That’s what happened. Every time he saw me at the hotel he kept staring at me, and I responded asked what was the problem, if he looking like that because he was hungry or what. When he got inside the cage I saw he was scared. He got lucky (to win).”

This story was already strange; now it’s just full-blown off-the-wall. Brandao has a lot to learn if he thinks Poirier was scared of him, because he certainly fought valiantly for being a frightened man. Lucky or not, Brandao got finished.

READ MORE:  Joe Rogan rips Conor McGregor amid acting difficulty claims: 'Go act in Road House or fight Khabib again?'

And if he wants to continue fighting in the world’s best MMA promotion, he’ll likely have to clean up his act. Brandao earned a less-than-stellar reputation on TUF 14 by constantly engaging in testosterone-fueled spats with fighters like Marcus Brimage and Steven Siler.

He’s not doing much to shake his reputation of being a loose cannon despite the fact that he knows the UFC wants him to change:

“I have a lot of things to change, including the way I speak, my personality. People think I’m an ignorant man, but I’m a funny guy. But when I get inside that cage, I’m fighting for my family and my career. It’s hard to explain. I’m still learning, and I will be at the Top 10 one day.”

“I have nothing bad to say to Poirier. He did a good job, and that fight is in the past. I’m learning with the losses, and I only lost to tough opponents. I will rematch those guys one day and I’ll be the UFC champion. Sean Shelby was pissed off, but he understood when I showed him the photos of my car. I spoke with him and Dana White, they said that I need to change and I’m going to be the champion one day. They said they know the fighters are afraid of me.”

It sounds like Brandao is heaping a ton of praise upon himself unnecessarily. There’s no doubt that he has a ton of natural talent and a killer instinct to match, but that won’t translate into top-level success if you count on every single one of your opponents being scared of you. With talented fighters like Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Ricardo Lamas, Frankie Edgar, and Cub Swanson populating the top of the UFC 145-pound ranks, Brandao is quickly going to run out of fighters who are ‘scared’ of him.

READ MORE:  UFC's Laura Sanko snaps back at former MMA champion who says her commentary is 'Ruining the fights'

That is, if he ever makes it to a bout with any of those highly ranked (and responsible) fighters.

Showing up overweight and getting finished one more time will likely spell the end of Brandao’s UFC tenure, and it would mark an insane waste of talent if it did.

Will the TUF contract winner ever turn his attitude and behavior around enough to contend in one of the most stacked divisions in all of MMA?

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports