Diego Brandão (born 27 May 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division.

Following the contest he won 6 and lost four of his next ten fights, with 3 wins by KO, 2 by submission and 1 by decision, before signing with the UFC.

[3] In this fight Diego charged out of the gate with a flying knee and knocked Siler unconscious 30 seconds into the first round with a left hook.

[4] Brandão defeated Caraway via KO due to a flying knee and follow up punches late in the first round.

After a back-and-forth first round Brandão was knocked down and hit with heavy shots on the ground until he caught Bermudez with an armbar, and quickly forced the tapout.

[11] Brandão defeated Garza on UFC on FUEL TV 9 via first round submission with an arm triangle choke.

There was some bad blood between the two that was evident during the staredown at the weigh-in, with Poirier claiming Brandão had threatened to "stab me in the neck.

[20] Brandão was expected to face promotional newcomer Brian Ortega on 31 May 2014, at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale.

[22] Brandão faced Conor McGregor on 19 July 2014, at UFC Fight Night 46, replacing an injured Cole Miller.

[citation needed] Brandão faced Katsunori Kikuno on 27 September 2015, at UFC Fight Night 75.

[27] He dropped his opponent in the bout's opening seconds and followed up with a flurry of punches earning a TKO stoppage.

[33][34] On 20 October 2016, Brandão signed a contract to fight Russian mixed martial artist Rasul Mirzaev.

[40] Following leaving ACA, Diego faced Oleg Lichkovakha at Ural FC 1 on 1 July 2022.

He won the bout via TKO in the second round with knees and punches, breaking a six-fight losing streak and winning for the first time since 2019.

[44] Diego faced Karshyga Dautbek on 9 September 2023 at Alash Pride 89, losing the bout in 36 seconds via TKO stoppage.

[45] Brandão stepped in on short notice to replace Kevin Lee against Chad Mendes in a grappling match at ADXC 5 on 3 August 2024.