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Jose Miguel Delgado wasn’t planning on competing at Noche UFC. He’d fought in July, turning in a dominant performance against Austin Bashi in Oklahoma City to earn his second win of the year, and after a tough training camp and moving house with his lady, he was happy to enjoy the event as a fan and wait to see what came next. The only thing that would change his plan was if the UFC called with something too good to turn down. Limited Tickets To Noche UFC Remain, Get Yours Here “And they called me for the main event,” Delgado said with a wide grin a week after stepping in to face Jean Silva for this weekend’s Noche UFC event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. “To be the main event of the whole dang thing; are you kidding me?” It’s not just that it’s a main event opportunity, though; it’s the entire package. Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass! Upgrade licenceThis video is not available in your country There was a problem while loading content. Please try again. Delgado was born and raised in Yuma, Arizona, the youngest of seven. He moved to Phoenix after high school to pursue a career in mixed martial arts and started training at Glendale’s famed MMA Lab. And when his friends would ask him who he’d pick if given the chance to fight anyone on the roster, his choice was always the same. UPCOMING UFC EVENT TICKETS: UFC Edmonton | UFC 332 “You can ask all the homies, you can ask my lady: this is what I’ve asked for,” he said. “I have asked for greatness, I’ve asked for the chance of greatness, and it doesn’t get much bigger of an opportunity to be great than this. I’ve asked for Jean Silva for years; you can ask the homies! They’d always ask, ‘What’s one fight?’ and I would always be like, ‘Jean Silva — I just think it’d be sick!’ “So, man, to get that call and get it to all line up the way it does —I don’t believe in coincidences, I believe this is all ordained, and I believe the onus is on me to put in my side of the work for sure, but this feels ordained and it’s on me to go capture it.” Few people are out here actively seeking an opportunity to share the Octagon with the 29-year-old Brazilian menace. A member of the Dana White’s Contender Series Class of ’23, Silva has posted a 6-1 record through his first seven UFC starts, with his lone setback coming against two-time title challenger Diego Lopes in the main event of Noche UFC last year in San Antonio, Texas. He won each of his first five fights by stoppage, including a short-notice move up to lightweight where he battered Drew Dober in his own backyard, and after falling to Lopes, the Fighting Nerds standout returned in January to win a competitive fight with Top 10 mainstay Arnold Allen. RELATED: Fight By Fight Preview | Fighters On The Rise | Jose Miguel Delgado | From Yuma, With Love But everything he’s shown so far, all the hesitation he induces in others, is precisely why Delgado has been so eager to share the Octagon with Silva this whole time. “Because he’s violent m*****f***** and he’s mean; he’s a mean, mean bastard and I like that s***!” Delgado said. “I like that energy. I want to play with that energy. I’m not in here for easy fights. I’m not in here trying to pick and choose —I want the dirtiest, nastiest warriors of all time because I want to be that; I want to be the best amongst them, and this is an opportunity to do that... He’s good everywhere. It’s not like I’m picking him because he has all these holes — I think he’s good, but I’m ready to be better. I’m ready to be more violent, I’m ready to slice through the chaos against him, and I believe I can do that.” Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass! Upgrade licenceThis video is not available in your country There was a problem while loading content. Please try again. When situations like this arise, especially with younger athletes thrust into this kind of opportunity sooner than anticipated, there are times when it feels like they’re just happy to be considered for the opportunity; like getting the call is already enough of a win that they don’t necessarily envision the whole experience through to the typical conclusion of other fight weeks — the part where they stand triumphant in the center of the Octagon. Gratitude and humility are important, but it’s also more than okay to acknowledge the time, effort, and sacrifice that went into putting yourself in a position where something like this is even possible in the first place, and Delgado seems to be striking that perfect balance. View Delgado's Athlete Profile “I feel so honored and privileged, but I also know I did the work to get here, man,” he said. “This has been a lifetime of sacrifice, a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears poured into this. I’m grateful for it, but I know that I’m ready for it. I know that I’m prepared for it.” His recognition of both pieces of the opportunity before him feels like a distillation of the ethos that permeates the entire MMA Lab squad, filtering down from head coach John Crouch through the collection of outstanding coaches and out into the all-star cast of athletes that have passed through the long underrated elite gym; one summed up succinctly by arguably its most famous figure. “My favorite thing that Ben does actually says to us —because a lot of what we learn from Ben is learned from watching, but my favorite one he gives us is, and it’s really simple: “All it takes is everything you’ve got,’” Delgado said when asked what kind of advice he’s received from the experienced veterans and outstanding coaches that surround him every day, singling out one particular gem from former UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson. “I love the simplicity of that. I know how to give everything I’ve got. I know how to give my hundred percent today; I know how to give my hundred percent tomorrow. That’s one of the things I focus on, and that’s one of the things I learned myself when I fought short notice on the Contender Series: you’ve gotta take it day-by-day, and you’ve got to do your best to win today.” MORE NOCHE UFC: Alexa Grasso | Back at Noche UFC, Back on the Hunt for Gold Delgado, who competed on Season 8 of the annual talent search series, earned a contract with a second-round stoppage win, then followed it up with first-round finishes in each of his first two UFC starts. After dropping a decision to Nathaniel Wood last October at UFC 325 in Abu Dhabi, he has bounced back with a split decision win over veteran Andre Fili and his drubbing of Bashi in Oklahoma City during the summer. Over the course of those five fights, he has shown that he has an abundance of talent and tremendous upside, profiling as someone who was clearly ready for a step up in competition and a chance to compete against more established veterans and fellow emerging names in the featherweight ranks. Could you see a future where he developed into a contender and worked his way into a couple main events? Sure, it was in the realm of possibility, but it also felt a little further down the road than this. But that’s the thing with chasing your dreams and daring to be great: it doesn’t matter if anyone else shares the same vision, the same belief as you; all that matters is that you see it and are willing to risk it all for the chance to make those dreams come true. A couple of weeks ago, when the fight was first announced, Delgado spoke with UFC.com’s Zac Pacleb and explained how his MMA dreams felt fragile when he started down this path. “It was so fragile, I didn’t want it to break, so I would whisper,” he said, recalling the days when reaching this point seemed so unlikely that it could fall apart if he spoke about it too loudly. Now, on the precipice of the biggest fight of his career, at home, against the one guy he’s been itching to fight, Delgado doesn’t feel the need to whisper anymore. “I’ll say it with my whole chest, man: I’m here to be the best in the f****** world and I’m not stopping ‘til I get that; I promise you that.”