Joseph Benavidez couldn’t capture UFC gold on his third attempt and he’s spoken out on it.

This past Saturday night (Feb. 29), Benavidez went one-on-one with Deiveson Figueiredo. The bout headlined UFC Norfolk. Had Benavidez won, then he would’ve captured the vacant UFC flyweight title. It didn’t go his way as he was stopped in the second round. The title remains vacant as Figueiredo missed weight.

When UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping asked Benavidez how he felt right after the defeat, he admitted he was down in the dumps.

“I feel like this isn’t real right now, that I’m in some freaking nightmare, honestly,” Benavidez said. “I had a lot of visions of talking to you after, and a lot of the things that were gonna happen that didn’t. Sh-t, man. Life’s tough like that, you know. Everybody’s going through ups and downs everywhere. This is mine. It’s on display. Just lucky to be alive, I guess,” he added. “I worked my ass off for that, and it didn’t go great.”

Benavidez then took to his Instagram account to let fight fans know that he will keep pushing forward.

“We done come a long way like them slim-ass cigarettes. From Virginia, this ain’t gon’ stop, so we just gon’ continue.”

Prior to UFC Norfolk, Benavidez was the number one ranked flyweight. That’s sure to change once the rankings are updated.

It’s a tough break for Benavidez, who went 0-2 in his previous UFC title bouts and failed to capture WEC gold. The 35-year-old has been known to be one of the best fighters not to hold UFC gold during his time with the promotion and he hopes that isn’t something fight fans are saying when his career is over.