Athletes
Brady Hiestand Is The "New Wave"
Coming Off Back-To-Back Wins, 25-Year-Old Brady Hiestand Wants To Start Knocking On The Door Of The Bantamweight Rankings Soon
Injuries are part of any sport at any level. That doesn’t make the waiting to return to competition any easier on the athlete’s mood. But Brady Hiestand has never been one to follow the herd. So as he’s waited to get back to active duty for the first time since April of 2023, he’s kept it positive.
“I've been training, so I've been in the game, but my last fight I got injured,” he said. “The one before that I had a really bad staph infection, but now we’re a hundred percent.”
Where does that Pacific Northwest optimism come from?
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“Well, there's really nothing else to do,” he laughs. “There are many other ways to deal with it, but there's no real useful or helpful ways. So I chose to do the one that made the most sense and then just move past it. And I try to stay focused on what I have, be grateful for what I have, the opportunities I still receive, and just look forward to the next one because I know it's tough. The injuries happen and I had to be out for over a year, but I know now I'm a completely different fighter ready to go. I feel like I'm on a whole other level and I got a good match with this Garrett Armfield dude.”
That Garrett Armfield dude is almost a mirror image of Hiestand as they approach their Saturday bout in Las Vegas. Both aren’t afraid of a scrap, and each bantamweight has won two in a row in the Octagon after dropping their UFC debut. Oh yeah, they both can fight, and with such upside, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they will meet more than once in the coming years.
“It all depends on how he shows up and how I show up,” said Hiestand. “I try not to look too far forward, but we are both young up and coming prospects, so if he sticks around and he stays motivated, I, for sure, can see us fighting in the future.”
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Motivation is not an issue for the 25-year-old Spokane native. Even when he was on the sidelines, he was tuning in to watch the fights every weekend.
Brady Hiestand Stops Batgerel Danaa In The Third Round | UFC Fight Night Pavlovich vs Blaydes
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Brady Hiestand Stops Batgerel Danaa In The Third Round | UFC Fight Night Pavlovich vs Blaydes
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“I feel like if you're going to fight in the UFC, first, you’ve got to be a super fan,” he said. “Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like if you're fighting at this high level, you’ve got to be a super fan. And so every fight card, I'm stoked to see who's fighting next. It gets me pumped up.”
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That’s a diehard – both as a fighter and a fan. It’s admirable, but it also puts Hiestand at the risk of burnout, considering that he’s been doing this since he was 14 years old. But he’s found plenty of ways to keep things fresh.
“I feel like I'm always switching it up, whether I'm going to training with new guys or adding something else onto it,” he said. “I like evolving as a person and as a fighter, but I'm more than just a fighter. I go in there, I perform and I fight, but I also feel like I can help people. And the fact that I like to teach, sometimes I do some privates and, I don't know, I think it's in my blood. I think I just love getting out there and scrapping, and I love the competitiveness of it, and I love seeing two people pitted against each other. I don't think it's ever going to get old for me seeing two dudes go out there and try to take each other's heads off.”
On Saturday, two of those dudes are Hiestand and Armfield, and both want to make their statement that the next generation of bantamweights is on the way.
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“I feel like I've got a lot of potential and people see that,” said Hiestand. “I’ve got a lot of work to do to prove to these people that I belong in the rankings, but I feel like three wins in the bantamweight division is going to be a good look. And I think one, maybe two, wins after that, I'm scratching at the Top 10, especially once I start finishing these guys, which is the plan. I think I'm going to be on the rise and be able to showcase that I am the next up-and-coming generation in the bantamweight division. A lot of older dudes, they're all at the top, all getting to their thirties and mid-thirties, and it's time for a new wave to come to this division. And I think I'm a part of that.”
UFC Fight Night: Perez vs Taira took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 15, 2024. See the final Prelim and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!