Dhiego Lima blames UFC losses on over-training: ‘I lost before I even got in there’

Dhiego Lima was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter 19 nearly two years ago and made it all the way to the finals after winning three bouts in the house. Lima fell short at the TUF 19 Finale, dropping an early knockout loss to Eddie Gordon.

“It sucked, it really sucked,” Lima told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus. “I really wanted it really bad, I worked so hard for it. It messed me up on it. I trained so hard, by the time came, I was just so over-trained. It is what is is, I moved on, I still got the contract. But it was devastating, I really wanted it.”

The Ultimate Fighter can be a completely different experience for each fighter on the show. Some fighters enjoy competing on the reality show, as they have a good time, gain mixed martial arts experience and possibly even earn a contract with the UFC. Others don’t exactly have the best time of their life, resulting in a poor experience. For Lima, it was the former.

“It wasn’t bad at all, actually,” he said. “It was pretty much everything a fighter could ask for. The good thing about our season is that most of the guys were experienced fighters. They really wanted to be there to win. There was really nobody that wanted to be there for TV, put into an act, none of that. So our season was better because of that. It was awesome man. You were just there to train. There were no headaches on the outside, no social media, nothing. You just focus on yourself, focus on fighting. It was one of the best experiences of my life.”

After the Gordon loss, Lima rebounded with a unanimous decision win, but lost by first-round knockout twice more, resulting in his release from the organization. Up until last month, the 27-year-old was sidelined since his last UFC loss over a year ago. Lima picked up a dominant win over Antonio Trocoli at Legacy FC 53 in April, and he was happier with this than his lone UFC victory.

“It felt amazing, it felt really amazing,” he said. “That was a better feeling than even winning in the UFC for me. I really needed that, coming off those tough losses, it was hurting me. I was really, happy …

continue reading in source www.bloodyelbow.com