While he’s still based in the Dallas area, training camps are now done in suburban Chicago with the Valle Flow Striking team, where he trades the comforts of home for a Spartan lifestyle that includes winters that are too cold for his liking and a shower that is consistently even icier. With that has come a shift from telling himself he’s capable of doing great things to genuinely believing it, and then going out and following through whenever his feet touch the canvas.
“I would do myself a great disservice if I did not show up and show out, do everything that is in my brain,’ began Brahimaj, pausing for a beat in order to better articulate his thoughts. “It might not come out of my mouth, but it’s in my soul, it’s in my heart, and I have a rendezvous with destiny on February 21. Me and destiny are gonna walk hand-in-hand, and I’m gonna change my fortune for the better.
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“I respect my opponent —I really, really do; I have a lot of admiration for Puna —and I understand it’s just business when I walk into that Octagon on February 21, but as I’ve said before, I have to display, I have to showcase my entire arsenal and the greatness that is inside of me, the greatness that has been pushing me. I know it’s gonna propel me to new heights —I feel it, I believe it; I know it’s there.
“All this restlessness I’ve had, all of these sleepless nights I’ve had, all the hard work I’ve put in —it almost feels like a Rocky theme that I came up here to Chicago in the freezing cold,” he added with a smile. “When I get back to the basement apartment over here, the majority of the time, the shower takes forever to heat up, and by the time it does, the hot water is out already. That is just a grind, and I understand these are the steps.
“February 21 is my rendezvous with destiny, and I know we’re gonna go hand-in-hand, and we’re gonna have a good old time.”
