That win may have been the biggest of Fili’s personal life, because Fili reunited with his father at the event, with the elder Fili being in attendance for the bout.
“My dad just got out of prison, and I haven’t seen him in about 17 years and I saw him for the first time last night,” Fili told MMA Junkie. “He was here at the fight today, and if you think you’re going to beat my (expletive) in front of my dad, it’s not going to happen. If you think you’re going to beat my (expletive) in front of my little sister, it’s not going to happen. If you think you’re going to beat my (expletive) in front of all the kids I grew up with, like raising each other, scrapping, scrounging and trying to survive with each other, it’s not going to happen.”
Fili has been competing as a professional MMA fighter for a decade, so this was the first time that his father could attend a bout.
A victorious Fili also credits another person for making his professional MMA fighting dreams come true and that is Urijah Faber.
“Urijah invested in me when there was almost nothing worth investing in,” Fili said. “And to be able to make him proud and make the team proud and represent in our city, I can’t put it into words. It’s one of the best feelings I ever had.”
Faber also competed at UFC Fight Night Sacramento, defeating Ricky Simon by first round knockout.
