UFC workhorse Neil Magny still ready and willing to fight Stephen Thompson in January

If it sounds crazy then you haven't been paying attention to the career of UFC welterweight Neil Magny.

Although the man is fewer than 24 hours from stepping inside the Octagon on short notice to take on TUF 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum, Magny is still open to fighting again in January, should the opportunity present itself.

Speaking to Cage Pages, Magny chuckled at the idea of a quick turnaround from the main event of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2 Finale to take on Stephen Thompson at UFC 195.

"You know what, I have not learned anything yet about him having an opponent," said Magny. "I mean, I am trying to focus on Gastelum at the moment, but if I am willing and able coming out of the Gastelum fight to fight Jan. 2 I would be more than happy to."

Magny originally signed on to fight at UFC 195, but was forced to leave "Wonderboy" without a dance partner by doing UFC a solid and stepping up on short notice to replace the injured Matt Brown in Monterrey, Mexico.

One of the most active fighters on the roster, Magny has had a history of stepping in on short notice and furthering his career. Just 22 days removed from a disappointing loss to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Demian Maia, Magny replaced an injured Rick Story at UFC Fight Night 74, defeating Erick Silva convincingly.

So, what's with the go-getter attitude? And why abandon a pay-per-view slot to appear on a free televised TUF Finale?

"I realize that ranking wise it made no sense, but when you realize that today is all you have and the opportunity to fight is all you have; I do not want to jeopardize anything and wait," Magny told Cage Pages. "Like, ‘Oh maybe I will fight in January.' I mean there are things that could happen between now and then that are out of my control. I never know what those things are going to be, so I had a fight in front of me with Gastelum and I was like I will take full advantage of this fight and if one those fights happen down the road, great, but right now this fight in front of me is what I am going to try and tackle."

Magny will compete for the tenth time in just two years when he takes on Gastelum tomorrow night (Sat., Nov. 21, 2015) in Mexico. He has won all but one of those fights.

MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 78 fight card on fight night (click here), starting with the UFC Fight Pass "Prelims" bouts at 6:30 p.m. ET before moving on to the FOX Sports 1 "Prelims" offering at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the FOX Sports 1 main card line up at 10 p.m. ET.