Athletes
Ryan Gandra | Intensely Focused On The Basics
Ascending Brazilian Middleweight Ryan Gandra Talks Whirlwind 12 Months, Climbing The Divisional Ranks Ahead Of Showdown With Ozzy Diaz On Saturday
A little over 12 months ago, Ryan Gandra’s entire life got turned upside down, both personally and professionally.
On the fighting front, the middleweight strolled into the Meta APEX in Las Vegas and registered a first-round stoppage win over Trent Miller, impressing UFC President Dana White enough to earn a contract. A handful of weeks later, Gandra and his wife welcomed their first child, a son named Davi.
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“It’s been 12 months of a dream coming true,” Gandra said ahead of his bout against Ozzy Diaz at Crypto.com UFC 331. “Every day, I still feel like I’m dreaming. It’s been 12 months of all the effort of myself, Lucas, my manager, Jhony and Max, my coaches — all the effort we took to get here, we have been getting fulfilled by that, so it’s been pretty incredible. Here we are one more day living our dreams here in L.A.
“It’s been a very big routine change focusing solely on being a fighter, learning how to just rest and let my body heal. It’s been pretty different than what I was used to,” continued Gandra.
Ryan Gandra Stops Medina In Round One | UFC Mexico
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Ryan Gandra Stops Medina In Round One | UFC Mexico
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So, between becoming a UFC fighter and a father, which has come with the steeper learning curve?
“Both; I can’t really tell,” he said with a laugh. “I learned from Spider-Man that ‘with big power comes big responsibility.’ Being in the UFC, having my son, it’s two big steps that give me a lot of power, and it shows me that I’m not only taking care of myself anymore, but of my whole family and my crew. It really put me in a new position where I have to be more responsible and there for them… That has easily been the biggest change is knowing that I have to always be only point because I have more people who are depending on me.”
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Gandra has been more than “on point” through his first two trips into the Octagon though.
In February, the 31-year-old “Problema” made his debut opposite Jose Daniel Medina in Mexico City, dispatching him in just 41 seconds to earn his first UFC victory. A little less than five months later, he returned to Las Vegas and rolled through Zachary Reese at UFC 329, needing only 75 seconds to secure his second straight stoppage win under the UFC banner.
Gandra felt like the win over Reese was “automatic,” praising the efforts his team put into getting him ready to face the tall, dangerous Texan. Tuesday, he explained what goes into their training camps and why these fights feel like a foregone conclusion to him before he even sets foot inside the Octagon.
“Every team has its style of training, of learning, and of game planning and the way we do it is we like to focus on the basics being done to the point of perfection,” Gandra said. “There is not much secret to what we do. It’s the basics and we do that over and over and over and over. On my last fight, I was training a lot with Paulo Costa, and we did that movement that got me my knockout so much that even he told me before the fight, ‘You’re only doing that, and you’ve been doing that so much. It’s a very interesting way of working out.’ Right after the fight, he messaged me and said, ‘Bro, you guys were right all along.’”
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Gandra laughed, before adding, “That’s what we always work on: do the basics very well done. We try to perfect the basics, and we think that’s our best strength.”
That intense focus on the basics has not only served Gandra well through his first two UFC appearances but been the foundation for what has been a relatively quick rise from competing on the regional circuit in Brazil to fighting under the brightest lights in the business.
Ryan Gandra Overwhelms Zachary Reese For TKO In Round 1 | UFC 329
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Ryan Gandra Overwhelms Zachary Reese For TKO In Round 1 | UFC 329
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When he decided to pursue his fighting dreams, he made a point to surround himself with the best people possible, seeking out management and coaches that have a history of helping athletes reach the highest levels while also showing care for them as well. Since suffering a loss in his second professional fight, Gandra has been rolling, earning finishes in all but one of his nine consecutive wins. Gandra always believed in himself, and now, he’s confident that he’s going to surprise people with how quickly he rises into title contention as well.
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“Before I got to the UFC, a lot of people didn’t think I was close, but I knew the UFC was gonna come sooner than most people thought, and that’s what happened,” he said. “And now I think that the title shot is coming sooner than most people think… Nobody really talks about me as a future contender yet, but I think as soon as people realize how close I am to getting this title shot, I’m gonna be right there in the conversation, especially if Sean Strickland holds the belt until then because that is a fight we’ve been talking about for quite some time now. I really feel like in the book of my life, the title would be ‘Ryan Gandra’s Road to the Title.’ That’s how I feel my life is taking me… Everything that happens makes me believe that I am destined to be a world champion someday. Everything I do is looking for that.
“The money is great, but what really pushes me through is the legacy,” he added. “Money is very good, but it isn’t forever — someday it ends — but the legacy you build is forever. I’m not saying I’m gonna be fighting for the title in one, two, three fights, but sooner than people think, I’m gonna be in the conversation.”
The analytical and driven fighter is aware that it takes more than just victories to capture peoples’ attention these days, and while the devastating finishes he’s delivered so far have started moving the needle, he’s spent time focusing on his performance outside of the Octagon in hopes of expediting the process.
“Whenever we fight nowadays, one thing that is very clear is that the fighters that get the most featured, the most talked (about) are the fighters that not only put on a show inside of the cage, but are also able to (speak) well and connect with the fans, so that is something we have been working on — how to communicate better and how to pass on the message of what we’re looking for better to the fans all over the world,” he said. “So not only have I been training for the fight, but I’ve been training for the post-fight interview and who to call out next.
How To Watch And Stream Crypto.com UFC 331: Van vs Pantoja 2
“And I want to be very clear as my fight ends that ‘The Problem’ of the division just beat Ozzy Diaz.”
Crypto.com UFC 331: Van vs Pantoja 2 took place live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on September 19, 2026. 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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