Andre Fili Reflects on Head Kick Knockout and Long UFC Career
Andre Fili stopped Kai Kamaka III with a head kick 22 seconds into the second round on Saturday night. The knockout gave the veteran his 14th UFC win at UFC Fight Night inside the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
The official result improved Fili to 26-14 with one no-contest. Kamaka fell to 18-9-1. Fili had entered the bout on a two-fight skid, having lost by second-round TKO to Vinicius Oliveira in June and by split decision to Jose Miguel Delgado in March. The finish arrived early in Round 2 after a competitive first round of exchanges.
In the octagon afterward, Fili described settling into his rhythm before the kick landed.
“Yeah, once I settled in and found my flow, I’ve been working so hard,” he said. “I’ve been in this game so long. I’m about a week away from my 13th anniversary of being a UFC fighter.”
He traced the longevity back to his childhood.
“I dreamed of this. I saw the UFC on my little Sony TV in my bedroom, my little 11-inch TV. I watched Ultimate Fighter in like 2000 and whatever, and I decided I was going to do this for the rest of my life. I’m 36. I’m still here. Y’all are going to be stuck with me for a long time.”
Fili also pointed to changes outside the cage. He said having a son a year and a half ago altered his approach, and he credited faith with carrying him through the camp.
“I just want to say, all glory to God, that’s been the biggest change in my life, is I’ve given everything to God, the worries, the troubles, the honor, the grace, the glory, everything, and that’s what got me through this fight, through this fight camp.”
He addressed the finish itself and his opponent.
“I love Kai, shout out to Kai, that’s rough. I didn’t land the extra shot at the end because it wasn’t necessary.” The head kick dropped Kamaka, and Fili chose not to follow with additional strikes once the fight was clearly over.
Later in the interview, Fili turned to representation of Polynesian fighters.
“I hear a lot about Russian fighters and Mexican fighters and Chinese fighters, and fighters from everywhere, and that’s great, they deserve that, but I don’t hear enough about Polynesian fighters. You just saw two Hawaiian, Samoan islanders go to war.
We’ve been in this sport, we’ve been in this company from the beginning, as contenders, as champions. Yo, you guys can borrow it, but this belongs to us. All my islanders, all my usos, stand up!”
When asked what he wanted next, Fili kept the focus immediate. “I wanna get pizza, go home to my beautiful wife and my beautiful son, don’t talk to me about fighting for a week.” Michael Bisping noted that the knockout ranked among Fili’s best highlights in 28 bouts inside the organization.
The result ends Fili’s recent slide and adds a clean head-kick knockout to his record. At 36 and approaching 13 years in the UFC, the win does not automatically elevate him into the upper tier of the featherweight division, but it confirms he remains capable of producing a decisive finish after more than a decade on the roster. Fili’s stated plan was simply to leave with his family and step away from fight talk for a week.
