Ricardo Lamas fought the who’s who of the UFC featherweight division.
The former UFC title challenger retired from MMA in 2020, hanging up the gloves after 28 pro fights, 17 of which were under the UFC banner.
Lamas shared the Octagon with the likes of then champion Jose Aldo, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Chad Mendes, Calvin Kattar and the heavy-handed Josh Emmett.
Surprisingly enough, the UFC veteran didn’t name any of them when asked who hit him the hardest.
Ricardo Lamas reveals Jose Aldo’s teammate Hacran Dias as hardest-hitting opponent
Lamas says Hacran Dias’ power is unreal.
A teammate of Aldo’s, Dias was at one point 21-1-1 in the UFC.
In June 2014, the Brazilian lost in his third UFC appearance against Lamas by unanimous decision, but not without leaving a mark.
“The hardest leg kick that I remember taking was against Hacran Dias,” Lamas told Bloody Elbow who hit him the hardest in his career.
“That was actually the fight after my title fight [with Jose Aldo]…
“He hit me with one leg kick right on the meat of the thigh,” Lamas said of Dias.
“I felt his shin go into my bone, into the femur. And, I was like, holy…
“You know, I had just gone five rounds with his training partner, Jose Aldo, who kicked me a bunch of times, and it didn’t feel anything like his.”
Ricardo Lamas says he would’ve loved to fight BJ Penn
Lamas fought just about everybody at 145 lbs, but there are a few fights that got away from him.
‘Bully’ never got the chance to face Conor McGregor when he was at the weight class or The Korean Zombie, who he was booked to fight in 2017.
Looking back on his career, Lamas revealed which star he wished he had fought.
“BJ Penn,” Lamas mentioned the former two-division UFC champion.
“Actually, I was supposed to fight him. We were going to main event a card in Manila, Philippines, but then BJ pulled out due to an injury that he sustained during training. And after he pulled out, the UFC kind of canceled the whole show.
“But it turned out good because that’s when they put me up to fight Charles Oliveira in Mexico City. So, still another great fight and a great destination.
“But, if there was one guy that I wish I can go back and kind of compete against, that would have been BJ, because he was a guy that I looked up to when I was younger, before I even got involved in training in MMA.
“It would have been awesome to just face a legend like him in the Octagon,” Lamas added.