Athletes
Dan Ige | Relaxed And Ready
Veteran Featherweight Welcomes Familiar Assignment In 2026 Debut
There is a different level of ease to Dan Ige this week in Houston as he readies to step into the Octagon and face one of last year’s breakout stars, Brazilian Melquizael Costa, on the main card the UFC’s return to Toyota Center this weekend.
Generally a reserved and focused individual, the veteran featherweight seemed more at ease in the days leading up to his first appearance of 2026, embracing the opportunity in front of him and having a laugh with his coach Eric Nicksick when asked about the types of adjustments they need to make in order to take a step forward in the talent-rich division.
“Just bang! Just f***ing bang!” he said with a laugh. “Overhand rights, right Eric?”
In the shadows behind us, Nicksick affirms Ige’s playful answer with a similar jocular tone.
“It’s just little adjustments every day and having fun with it,” Ige said, getting a more thoughtful answer. “I don’t really get bored; I still have fun with this, I’m still growing, and I’m still getting better, and that’s the main thing.
“As long as I stay in that state of mind and I still have joy, love for the sport — I heard a new thing that was ‘love is self-sacrifice.’ I sacrifice myself to this sport, and I love it, and I’m still reaping my benefits and my rewards from it.”
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One of the factors contributing to his demeanor this week is that Houston has transformed into Xtreme Couture South for the week, as Ige is one of several competitors from the renowned Las Vegas gym competing on Saturday night. Former middleweight champ Sean Strickland headlines, while others including Joselyne Edwards and Ige’s close friend Punahele Soriano will all make the walk ahead of him.
Between competitors, coaches, and other teammates that have made the trip down to serve as sparring partners and support, there have been little packs of XC reps moving through the halls of the fighter hotel throughout the week, with everyone retreating to their shared accommodations later in the day.
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“It’s just familiar — you see familiar faces every day and seeing every guy that I train with walking around, seeing the guys I see at the PI; it feels like I’m in Vegas,” Ige said. “And overall, we all go through the same things, we probably all have similar thoughts — we’re all facing the same thing, we’re all cutting weight.
“We’re all going through this on our own, but together in a way, and it’s a cool feeling.”
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The familiarity Ige feels this week extends beyond those around him to across the Octagon as well, as Costa fits the archetype of the kind of fighter the Top 15 fixture faced routinely over the last several years: a taller, emerging talent on a solid run of success, but now faced with the challenge of breaking into the rankings.
Ige has been tabbed to play the veteran role in this type of classic pairing frequently, and where some competitors bristle at constantly being positioned as a physical litmus test for fighters like Costa, Ige welcomes the opportunities.
“I don’t really care; you can keep lining them up and I’ll keep knocking them down,” he said. “I like fighting these hungry up-and-comers; tall, lanky bastards.
“I love this. Any opportunity, I approach it with gratitude. I have a lot of respect for this sport and this game, and the opponents that show up in front of me. I don’t underestimate anybody, so I always prepare and everything else is beyond my control. I just have to go out there, give my best and see what happens.”
Hailing from the northern part of Brazil, Costa steadily worked his way to the doorstep of the rankings last year by earning four wins, which pushed his overall winning streak to five. Although he’s yet to face a ranked opponent, his first-round knockout win over Morgan Charriere to close out 2025 was a definite statement victory and the kind of win that earns you a step up in competition like this one.
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Ige is very complimentary of Costa’s talents and recent efforts, but the 34-year-old Hawaiian also acknowledged that there can be a downside to competing so frequently and repeatedly trying to strike while the iron is hot.
“He’s good and definitely deserving,” he said of Costa, who is making his fifth start in 12 months. “I know what that’s like: I think he’s on a 5-fight win streak and I’ve been there on a 6-fight win streak, fighting guy after guy. Once you get that momentum, they’ll keep pushing you, and you’ve gotta go. Sometimes you’ll get the fast line to the title — look at Diego Lopes; you’ve got to ride that momentum. On the other side of that, it takes a big toll on you — physically cutting weight that many times and mentally having to go again and again, and top your last performance, top your last performance.
“It’s easy to let the machine almost over-hype you in a way to where you buy into it,” he added. “I’ve been there. I don’t know what he’s going through, but I can imagine what he’s going through, and for me, I’m free. I’m just gonna go in there and do what I plan to do and have fun doing it.”
Along with being able to spend the week surrounded by teammates, Ige also benefitted in the lead up to this weekend’s pairing with Costa by being able to speak with three of the four men that faced his adversary last year, gleaning knowledge from each while also sitting with Nicksick to watch film and craft a plan of attack for Saturday’s main card assignment.
“I’ve been lucky enough to pick Julian’s brain, I picked Andre Fili’s brain, I picked (Christian Rodriguez’s) brain — all a bunch of guys that fought him, little things they saw,” he said. “We study our film; we do our homework.
“I’m sure he does some other things you don’t see on film, but for the most part, I understand what he wants to do, what he’s gonna try to do, and we have a game plan ourselves, and we’ll see who has a better game plan.”
And that is?
RELATED: Costa Looks For Big 2026
“I just gotta invest early and hurt him, keep going forward.”
Ideally, following that approach with result in a bonus, especially after Ige shifted his nickname to reflect the new value being awarded, moving from Dan “50k” Ige to “Hundred Grand” Dan Ige.
“I have to (earn a Performance Bonus) because if I don’t, I’ll look stupid,” he said with a laugh. “I have to get a hundred grand bonus. Yeah, there’s no doubt.”
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez took place live from Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 21, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!