Fresh off his unanimous decision win over Brad Pickett on the main card of UFC Fight Night 46 (results), which streamed live on Fight Pass last Saturday (July 19, 2014) from inside O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, Ian McCall is already eyeing a No. 1 contender fight against flyweight slugger John Lineker.
While neither fighter would have been in a position to inch that close to a title fight just a few weeks ago, timely wins by both fighters coupled with an untimely injury to John Dodson has opened the door for a new contender to face the winner of Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso, who do battle at UFC 177.
From the UFC Fight Night 46 post-fight press conference (watch it here):
"Sign me up! I'll fight anybody. He's top five or whatever. He might hit hard, but he can't touch me. If you look at the Bagautinov fight, he's got pretty big holes in his wrestling and jiu-jitsu. That's a fight I'd love to take."
Lineker (24-7) is fresh off a technical knockout win over Alptekin Ozkilic at last week's FOX Sports 1 event (replay).
Nothing is official at this time, but considering the proximity of their respective wins, a late fall or early winter showdown would not be out of the question. In addition, "Mighty Mouse" defends his flyweight strap in just over a month, so an early 2015 title fight pitting the winner of McCall vs. Lineker against Johnson vs. Cariaso would also fit into that timeline.
That scenario doing anything for you?