Diego Ferreira admits he thought about retiring due to injures, expects a “war” against Michael Johnson

Diego Ferreira wasn’t sure if he was going to fight again.

Ever since Ferreira suffered a TKO loss to Mateusz Gamrot in December of 2021 – which was his third loss in a row – he has dealt with a plethora of injuries. Those ailments kept him from competing and he admits the time off has been difficult.

“It’s been tough. It’s taken me off a couple of fights, and coming back two years later, doing rehabs and learning how to train and learn how to take care of my body more,” Ferreira said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “When we are young, you just go and don’t worry about your body and now I have really focused on that. I’m feeling great and have the opportunity to be back again.”

With Ferreira dealing with some injuries, he said retirement did cross his mind. But, after talking to his team and coaches, he knew he had to return and give it one last run to the title.

“Yeah, it did cross my mind. I did a couple of jiu-jitsu tournaments before getting ready for a fight to see how my body and mindset were,” Ferreira said. “I still got it, I still have that hunger and focus but it did go through my mind to retire and stop here. My body wasn’t hanging on as I wanted but my coach wanted to try for two years to see how far I want to take it. I want to focus on these two years I have ahead of me to see how far I can go.”

When Diego Ferreira does return to the Octagon, he will be facing Michael Johnson at UFC Vegas 73. It’s an intriguing matchup and one Ferreira is confident in.

Although Ferreira is confident he will get the win, he does believe the fight will be a fun one. He thinks it will be a war and likely the Fight of the Night, which is the exact scrap Ferreira wanted to come back to.

“I think it’s going to be a war. I picture how I fought Maribek Taisumov, I think it’s going to be like that, something tough like that. We are really going to try and scrap on the feet and grapple as well. This is going to be the Fight of the Night,” Ferreira said.

If Ferreira does get his hand raised against Michael Johnson, the Brazilian already has a few names ready to call out.

“A win is just going to save my place. I’m looking to get back again and I have a couple of guys in mind I’m ready to call out. I want to get back in there,” Ferreira said.

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