Dhiego Lima will finally return to the Octagon after a long stretch of fights in 2016-17, and he has made the most of his time off.
Lima competed five times between Dec. 2016 and Aug. 2017, including a TUF 25 welterweight final against Jesse Taylor, for a total cage time of 47 minutes and 43 seconds. He finally had time to train with a gi, work on his wrestling and boxing, and “come back a new fighter.”
The two-time Ultimate Fighter finalist did zero sparring before he started his camp for his next fight, a welterweight clash with Yushin Okami at UFC on FOX 29, scheduled for April 14 in Glendale, and says that it helped him evolve as a martial artist since he wasn’t focusing on a specific opponent.