Octagon redemption: Hong Kong fighter Alberto Mina ready for delayed UFC debut
Unbeaten welterweight determined to make the most of a second chance after original fight in March was suddenly cancelled
Alberto Mina doesn't want to hear anyone talking about that empty feeling you get when you realise a golden opportunity has gone begging. For five months he's been dealing with it every single day.
In March, what could have - should have - been the 32-year-old welterweight's proudest moment was taken away from him by circumstances beyond his control. And ever since, Mina has been thinking about what might have been.
Chosen to make his debut on the Ultimate Fighting Championship's card at the Venetian in Macau - the first Hong Kong fighter to make it to the UFC - Mina had put himself through months of intense training in London, only to have his opponent, American Zak Cummings, fail to make the weight.
Fourteen years after he'd made his mixed martial arts debut, what should have been the unbeaten Mina's coming-out party turned into a wake as the fight was cancelled.
From what I have been told, Epic members and friends have already bought tickets and hundreds of them will be there to support me
"It was a really hard blow for many reasons," says Mina. "I had gone through a hard training camp, it was going to be my first UFC fight in front of my home crowd and not being able to perform was devastating.