Athletes
Ramiz Brahimaj: The Homecoming
Bronx Native Gets Excited, Emotional Discussing UFC 309 Bout With Mickey Gall
Ramiz Brahimaj lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is of Albanian heritage, but speak with him for one moment and it becomes abundantly clear where the 31-year-old welterweight was born and raised.
“Here’s the deal: I’m a New Yorker through-and-through until the day I die, and being from the Bronx, this is… this is what it is for me,” began an excited Brahimaj, his voice flecked with the distinct sound of the borough he grew up in, the thought of Saturday’s clash with Micky Gall at UFC 309 prompting him to pause every couple of words and sentences in order to truly articulate what this means to him.
Order UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic
“Fighting at The Garden, man — I could fight anywhere else in the world, I could be paid $10 million… it doesn’t matter how much I’ll make — it’d be great and I’m never gonna complain about the money — but there are certain things and milestones in life that once you hit them…
“This is something that woke me up every morning and got me ready for training; got me off my a** and made me excited,” he said, beaming. “I’m just so blessed and so fortunate for this to happen. This is a childhood dream of mine.”
These are the types of moments that resonate way beyond win-loss records and divisional rankings; the kind of thing that not every athlete gets to experience, and that has such a deep, meaningful impact for those that do.
After making his MMA debut in Abilene, Brahimaj made his next nine professional appearances in his adopted hometown of Dallas, where he’s a member of the vaunted Fortis MMA crew led by “The General” Sayif Saud. Since signing with the UFC, each of the former LFA standout’s first five appearances have come in Las Vegas, at the UFC APEX, where the United States Army veteran has gone 2-3.
But this weekend, Brahimaj gets to go home — back to New York, back to The City — and make good on a childhood wish he shared with his mother when he was 10 or 11 years old.
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“I’ve been to The Garden, seen it so many times, walked by it, but I’ll never forget a specific instance from when I was a kid,” began Brahimaj, who returned from a daunting two-year absence in May, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a bout with Themba Gorimbo. “I was with my mother and we walked by — and bear in mind, my mother isn’t into sports or anything like that, she was an immigrant to this country — and I want to say I was 10 or 11 at the time, and we’re walking by, and she was like, ‘Why are so many people going into this establishment, blah blah blah?’
“I was like, ‘Mom, that’s Madison Square Garden!’ She was like, ‘What does that mean?’ And I was like, ‘I wanna be in there one day! I want to do something amazing in there one day!’ She was like, ‘Whatever, son; as long as you’re happy and healthy, that’s all I care about. All this other stuff doesn’t impress me.’”
Smiling, he paused, the emotion of the moment causing his eyelids to twitch as tears welled up behind them.
“It’s a childhood dream that I get to live out, and November 16, when I get my hand raised at Madison Square Garden, I’m gonna remember that for the rest of my life, and I’m gonna tell my Mom, ‘Remember that conversation we had? That 10-year-old Ramiz that when we walked by The Garden and you didn’t know what it was?’”
He shook his head and smiled, appreciative of the opportunity in front of him and the opportunity it presents.
“We were going back home, going back to the Bronx, and it’s crazy how life comes full circle,” added Brahimaj, who has endured and pushed through several different medical hurdles in order to continue pursuing his career inside the UFC cage. “Life is a truly precious — truly beautiful thing — and to take it for granted is a big mistake.”
In order for the native New Yorker to convey his message to his mother post-fight on Saturday, he’s going to have to call her, because she will not be in attendance.
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“My mom has never watched a single one of my fights, never watched me grapple once in my life,” Brahimaj said with a laugh before detailing her personal fight day routine. “This is what my mom does: she takes time off work, and she’ll just stay at the house, and all she’ll do is pray. She’ll text for updates and she waits for me to call her, and that’s what’s gonna happen: I’m gonna tell her, ‘Hey Ma, I did my thing at The Garden; I did it for New York, I did it for us!’”
With all the anticipation and excitement radiating off of him as he speaks about Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view fight card and the opportunity to compete at home, it’s easy to wonder if the 10-5 welterweight, who turns 32 on Sunday, isn’t a little too caught up in the moment and at risk of being overwhelmed by everything that is tethered to this weekend’s event.
Ramiz Brahimaj Submits Gilmore In Round 1 | UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs Green
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Ramiz Brahimaj Submits Gilmore In Round 1 | UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs Green
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Coming off a loss that was preceded by a long layoff and already a fight below .500 inside the Octagon, professionally there is a lot at stake for Brahimaj on Saturday, and while the chance to be home and eventually spend some time back in the Bronx, visiting his grandmother and his favorite haunts, is exciting, there is business to tend to first.
“It’s not like I’m venturing off to unknown territory,” he said when asked about compartmentalizing the excitement of being home and focusing in on his bout with Gall. “This is my sixth appearance in the UFC, thank God almighty, and more than that — I don’t want to make it seem like it’s just a job because it’s the best job in the world to me — but make no mistake about it, I’ve got a job to do, and for those 15 minutes, nobody has my attention other than my opponent standing across from me.
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“I have a job to do in those 15 minutes and I plan on keeping that finishing ratio intact.”
Gall has a great deal riding on this one, as well, as the popular 32-year-old from Green Brook, New Jersey, enters in the midst of a three-fight slide and having dropped six of his last nine fights after beginning his professional career with four straight wins.
“He’s a tough kid, he’s a good grappler, and he’s been in the UFC for a while,” Brahimaj said of Gall, offering his thoughts on the man he’ll share the Octagon with on Saturday. “And on top of that, he’s from Jersey, so it’s gonna be good; we’ve got a little New York-New Jersey beef going on here.
“He’s a tough kid, and I never overlook anyone in my career and, to me, it’s gonna be a helluva fight. I’m excited to showcase some new stuff, especially in front of…”
He paused once more.
“People may think he’s the hometown guy, but make no mistake about it: Madison Square Garden is in New York and I’m from the Bronx, New York! That’s my home!
“If it wasn’t for me having obligations to stay in the city, I would stay with my grandmother in the Bronx;” he added with a cackle. “I’m telling you! I would even do the media in the Bronx! That’s my home!”
While his excitement is beyond evident, so too is how deeply this opportunity resonates with the first-generation Albanian-American who had a childhood dream to one day get to do something special inside “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Now 20 years later, he’s getting the chance, and it isn’t something he intends to squander.
“When I win November 16th, the most important thing for me is that I get to make 10-, 11-year-old Ramiz proud; that kid that was walking by Madison Square Garden back to the apartment in the Bronx,” he said, the tears returning to his eyes. “It’s gonna make that kid proud. This is a victory for young Ramiz; for that kid in the Bronx, that grew up in the projects, that did not know what was gonna happen. This pre-dates my fighting career.
“For me to be in New York — to see my grandmother, to see my family, to feel that love, that unconditional support, not just from them, but from the whole five boroughs, it’s gonna be an indescribable feeling.
“This has a lot of value to me.”
UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic took place live from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on November 16, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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