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UFC's Ignacio Bahamondes determined to further family combat sports legacy

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Ignacio Bahamondes is fighting for something bigger than himself.

The Chilean competitor wants to continue the work previous generations began. Bahamondes (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is out to further a family combat sports legacy now that he finds himself on the biggest MMA stage – the UFC.

Ignacio earned a contract with the Las-Vegas based promotion with a spectacular knockout at Dana White Contender Series last month. The head-kick knockout, which punched the 23-year-old’s ticket into the UFC, was just the push needed to take the Bahamondes lineage to new heights in MMA.

“I want to write my name on the MMA history book with golden print, but that name is going to be Bahamondes and that’s the legacy that my family is going to leave,” Ignacio said in Spanish speaking on Hablemos MMA. “It’s not something that started with me, it’s something that started with my dad and my grandfather and great grandfather. It’s something that comes from generations.

“Every generation will be better. My little brother will be next and he’s going to be better than me and my precedents. That’s how it’s going to be. Maybe my children or my brother’s children will continue it. I think the Bahamondes legacy will not die and it’s going to be one of the biggest in MMA.”

Ignacio comes from a family of fighters.

His father, Manuel, began training in the striking arts at age 16. He is a former South American WKN kickboxing champion. He’s also a black belt in kempo karate and he’s run a karate academy in Santiago – Team Bahamondes – for almost 35 years.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Ignacio’s paternal grandfather was a professional boxer in Chile. And on his mother’s side, Ignacio’s great-grandfather, Raul Carabantes, was an accomplished Chilean boxer in the 1930s and ’40s. “El Estilista Valdiviano” retired with 82 professional bouts and was a South American champion. He also competed in Madison Square Garden in 1941, where he lost to Holman Williams. The Ring Magazine labeled Carabantes as the best Latin American boxer of his time.

Ignacio knows fighting and competing is in his DNA. The combative arts is all he knows.

“To be honest, I don’t remember my beginnings since I was basically born into the sport,” Ignacio explained. “My dad was a black belt kempo karate and owns his own academy. Since I have memory, maybe three years old, I remember running around the gym, playing in the tatami, hitting the bags, doing kicks and punches all day. So the truth is that I’ve been training since I was born.”

Ignacio can’t pinpoint when he began training in martial arts, but he knows when he realized he wanted to pursue a career in MMA.

“We’ve always had something in us that we love to compete,” Ignacio said. “When we see things are getting easy, we go for the next challenge. At that time when I was doing karate, kickboxing was making its way to Chile and that’s where the best competition was at the time. So when I was 10 years old, I began doing kickboxing.

“My dad was a kickboxing champion in South America, and over time, when I was 14 years old, MMA started making its way to Chile and history repeated itself. We began doing MMA. I fell in love with MMA, it’s the most complete sport and believe it’s the most competitive.”

In his late teens, Ignacio moved to the U.S. to pursue his dreams of becoming an MMA champion. He first went to Miami, but eventually made his way to Chicago. Ignacio has been training at VFS academy for the last five years under the tutelage of Mike Valle.

Ignacio paid his dues to get to the UFC, fighting in LUX, Combate Americas, LFA and other competitive promotions. The win on DWCS was a big career step up. Ignacio considers it the most important victory in his MMA career.

“(Manuel Bahamondes) didn’t say much, he just had tears running down his face from happiness,” Ignacio said recalling the night he earned his UFC contract. “All my aunts and uncles, there was like 40 people in my house there in Chile at 2 a.m. watching my fight. So when I called him, I couldn’t hear him, I just heard a bunch of yelling.

“But he looked happy and excited. I think I reflect his dream and where he would’ve like to get to if he would’ve fought in MMA. So he sees that in me. My dad is a hero to me, so I’m happy when I make him happy – same with my family. I’m happy making them happy.”

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