Diego Brandao recently made a statement with his in-cage performances and his fashion.
Brandao, the first Brazilian to win a season of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2011, captured and defended the Tuff-N-Uff featherweight title with finishes of 145-pound prospects Jamie Siraj and Canaan Kawaihae earlier this year. His fans quickly noticed he did it wearing Alex Pereira custom shorts, the ones designed for Pereira’s UFC 300 clash with Jamahal Hill.
That wasn’t Brandao’s original plan, though.
“I went to buy Jose Aldo shorts, Brazil, the yellow one,” Brandao told MMA Fighting. “When I got to the [UFC Performance Institute] for the Jamie fight there were no shorts. I was pissed. ‘F*ck, there are no shorts. I want to look like Jose Aldo. I want to dress nice for Dana White, for them to see.’ When I got there and saw [the name] Pereira, ‘These shorts are good.’ People told me, ‘Take this one, it’s Alex Poatan.’ And my name, in case you don’t know, is Diego Pereira Brandao. ‘F*ck. You know what? I’ll fight with these shorts.’”
Pereira finished Hill at the 3:14 mark of the first round in April 2024, and Brandao took just 14 seconds longer to stop Siraj. Brandao went to championship rounds against Kawaihae in his recent title defense before adding another knockout win to his record.
“It’s God, brother, because I won the fight and people are talking about the ‘Poatan’ shorts a lot, calling me ‘Mini Poatan,’” Brandao said. “I love this. I shaved my head and it does look like Mini Poatan a little bit, but he’s better. But it was something organic that happened. I wanted the yellow one like Jose Aldo, that’s the one I wanted for [my return] to the United States, but got Poatan’s instead. It was even better.”
The 38-year-old veteran next expects to defend his title against Kai Kamaka III in November, but hopes to land a deal with the UFC sooner.
