Ignacio
Bahamondes’ victory over Christos
Giagos on Saturday saw him bounce back from a loss that sent
him to a difficult space in life.
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Bahamondes scored a high-reel, bonus-winning knockout over Giagos
in the very first round of their
UFC Fight Night 240 clash. That allowed “La Jaula” to return to
the win column after a decision loss against Ludovit
Klein in August 2023 that snapped a three-fight winning
streak.
Bahamondes revealed that while losing a fight is hard enough, he
also had the added grief of his wife’s miscarriage, which happened
a couple of weeks after the defeat to Klein. Bahamondes had no will
to train but depended on faith to get his life back on track, which
he successfully did. The 26-year-old is now expecting another child
from his wife, who is five months pregnant.
“You know, for an MMA fighter, losing is not something nice,”
Bahamondes said at the post-fight press conference. “I think it is
the worst for a fighter. My wife was pregnant and she lost the
baby, like two weeks after the fight. So I was in a bad place, I
didn’t want to train, I didn’t want to do anything. But God helped
me. He broke me so many times, and he made me new again, even
better, even stronger, more beautiful. Now my pregnant wife of five
months, the baby’s coming, he’s coming back, just like his dad. And
I’m happy and grateful for life, I’m grateful for the people I got
on my team who’s coming here for this fight. Just happy with life,
I can’t wait for what’s next for me.”
While Bahamondes is hoping for a spot on the UFC’s card being
planned for Mexican Independence Day in September at The Sphere in
Las Vegas, he is open to all other options, as well.
“I would love to wait for The Sphere,” he said. “They need ‘La
Jaula’, they need ‘La Jaula’, they need the Chilean power. I got
all Latin America with me, so they need me there. It’ll be awesome
for [me] to wait [for] there but if they have something before or
something after, I’d be ready anytime, anywhere against anybody.”