Diego Lima is a coach of Ian Gary at Chute Boxe. Photo: Reproduction / Instragram
Experienced in the world of MMA and responsible for the success of many athletes, Diego Lima understands the responsibility and challenges that his students will face in their careers. Helping Ian Gary in preparation to arrive fit in UFC 315, on May 10, as a reserve athlete in the title dispute between Belal Muhammad | x Jack Della Maddalena, the coach highlighted the difficulty that the Irish will have with just a few days notice.
“You can’t come out unscathed after a 25-minute war. Thank God, both of them avoided serious injuries. The important thing now is to recover from the injuries, rest a little and return to light training after four or five days. Move your body in training, do some light sparring. It’s difficult because you have to train everything, and they have two completely different styles. Fighting Belal is one thing, and against Maddalena it’s totally different. We have to work on physical conditioning to improve for both of us, in case something happens. I don’t think this fight will be canceled, but we have to go there expecting it to be canceled,” Diego told MMA Fighting.
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During the interview, Lima highlighted the commitment shown by the Irishman so far.
“Ian always stays light, he’s always training, so he’s ready for any opportunity. Every fighter dreams of getting into the UFC, and when they do, they dream of winning the belt. Ian is super young, but he’s already very experienced. His second-to-last fight was a loss, but he came out bigger than before. He’s showing how good he is and he deserves this opportunity.”
Ian Gary wins Carlos Prates at UFC Kansas. Photo: Twitter / UFC NEWS
Finally, the person responsible for Chute Boxe, Diego Lima, defended the merits of the current sixth-placed welterweight being selected as a reserve for UFC 315.
“Ian deserves it. Not just for accepting another fight at the last minute, but for performing well in the Octagon. He’s a complete fighter. He came close to finishing [Rakhmonov] last time, and now he had a great fight with Carlos, dominating every round except the fifth. He’s proving that he has what it takes, that he deserves it. Both times the UFC needed him, he answered the call,” he concluded.
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