Brady Hiestand talks upcoming fight, training with Merab Dvalishvili and Julianna Peña

Brady Hiestand is back in action on April 22 when he makes his first appearance of 2023 at UFC Vegas 71.

Hiestand has been off to a great start in his young career and he’s done it all as an underdog.

When he first got onto The Ultimate Fighter, he was looked at as too young and inexperienced and many thought he wouldn’t go far on the show.

Well it turns out, those doubters were wrong.

Hiestand had a chip on his shoulder and embraced the underdog role and he would win two fights on the show to advance to the TUF finals.

He would suffer a loss in the finals, but he made a good impression on UFC president Dana White, who decided to give Hiestand a UFC contract.

Late last year in 2022, Hiestand would make his octagon debut and he made the best of his first UFC appearance as he would defeat Fernie Garcia by way of a unanimous decision.

Of course Hiestand was the underdog in his debut and now for his second UFC fight, he is once again the underdog.

In typical underdog fashion, Hiestand had been working hard and he even got a great experience in his preparation for this fight.

Hiestand made a trip to Las Vegas to train at the UFC Performance Institute and while he was there he was able to get a few training session with top bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili.

Between working with Dvalishvili and his great teammates, which includes Michael Chiesa, Hiestand feels this has been his best training camp ever and feels it will lead to another victory on fight night.

Prior to UFC Vegas 71, Hiestand spoke with MyMMANews to discuss his preparation for the fight, this being his sixth fight inside of the UFC Apex and he relationship with former bantamweight queen Julianna Peña, who will best fighting Amanda Nunes in their trilogy fight at UFC 289.

You can watch his full interview in the video above.

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John Eric Poli