It’s been more than two months since Andre Fili dropped a unanimous decision to fast-rising prospect Sodiq Yusuff, but the frustration seems as fresh as the moment the judges’ scores were read.

“That one hurt bad, dude,” Fili told MMA Junkie. “I can’t lie. I can’t pretend like, ‘Oh yeah, you earn more from your losses.’ Man, (expletive) all that, dude. That hurt bad.”

Riding the high of a “Performance of the Night” win in his hometown six months earlier, Fili entered the UFC 246 clash with Yusuff brimming with confidence. A back-and-forth clash top open steered toward Yusuff’s favor in the second. Fili dug deep in the third, but it wasn’t enough, and Yusuff was awarded a decision win.

Fili said he did take lessons from the performance, but it doesn’t make the result sit any more comfortably in his mind.

“I thought I won the fight, but I also know I had a better fight in me, and had I of just fought to my potential, it wouldn’t have been – had the whole fight looked like the third round, there wouldn’t have been any doubt,” Fili said. “There wouldn’t have been any judges (expletive) it up or anything like that. Had I of finished the fight, there wouldn’t have been any bull(expletive), and that’s on me. That’s not anyone else.

“That’s the thing about fighting – the finality of it. I really believe I won that fight, but now forever, the record book will always just say I lost that fight. It won’t say, ‘Oh, I probably actually won rounds 1 and 3.’ Like, ‘Oh, a lot of people told me it was a robbery.’ None of that (expletive) matters. It’s just the record says that I lost. Dealing with that finality as a fighter is hard. You put your heart and soul into this (expletive), and then you’ve got to just face the fact that you put everything that you have into this thing, and it doesn’t work out. It hurts bad.”

A longtime member of California’s famed Team Alpha Male, Fili (20-7 MMA, 8-6 UFC) has shown flashes of his capabilities during a seven-year UFC run. But “Touchy” says he’s not interested in just competing in the sport’s biggest promotion. He has championship aspirations, and he knows every loss along the way sets back the timeline he wants to accomplish.

While some fighters can simply accept setbacks and move forward, Fili said that’s not the way he is wired.

“Unless you’ve chased something and put your entire soul into it and come up short, it’s hard to understand that losing a fight hurts like that,” Fili said. “But I’m excited to fight again. I love this (expletive). I’ll do this (expletive) until I can’t. I just want to make good on my potential. I want to, all the people who invested in me and stood by me who see the potential I have and see that I’m a world champion-caliber fighter and I have the potential, I want to make that investment worthwhile. For myself, I just want to get back in there and get a win.”

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic means the UFC’s schedule is anything but a certainty moving forward. But Fili said he’s staying prepared for anything and would really like the opportunity to compete on the May 16 card currently scheduled to take place in his home state.

“I’m trying to get on that May 16 card in San Diego if that still happens, which I really hope to God it happens because it’s nice and close to home,” Fili said. “San Diego is a dope city. California fans are the (expletive) best. And I don’t really give a (expletive) about an opponent. I want to fight the best guys in the world.”

And beat them, of course.

Fili knows MMA fans can be fickle, with “What have you done for me lately?” a very clear concern. But a few months shy of his 30th birthday, Fili says he’s not concerned with the opinion of others. He knows what matters most.

“I genuinely just want to fight the best guys in the world, and I want to beat ’em,” Fili said. “I want to get my hand raised. I want to show everybody and show myself that I’m the best ’45er in the world. Like, I really believe that, and I know people will hear this and roll their eyes, and I know people will comment and talk (expletive) and tag me losing this – like, I know for a fact people are going to roll their eyes and talk (expletive) when I say I’m the best ’45er in the world, but I really believe that I am. I think I’ve shown flashes of it, and I just want to get back in there and really manifest and capitalize on this potential.

“I’ve been training with the best guys in the world. I’ve beaten some of the best guys in the world already. I just want to keep going.”