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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Those who were surprised to see Chris Cariaso tapped for the next shot at UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson aren't alone, as Cariaso himself couldn't believe it at first.
"I was in just as much shock as everybody," Cariaso said in an interview with MMAjunkie this week. "I had to hang up the phone to call them back; I had to go around the house real quick to calm down. It was an ecstatic feeling."
The fight is coming up pretty quickly, but Cariaso was already readying for a fight in September in Japan, so moving up a few weeks wasn't a concern for him.
"I was already in training camp, so it was an easy transition and an easy choice for me to take it," Cariaso said. "It's always been my thing that I'm training for every day – to fight Demetrious and get that belt."
"Every time I'm training, in my mind it was, 'This is how I'm going to beat Demetrious.' So when I got the call, it was an easy decision to make."
Penick's Analysis: Cariaso's getting the opportunity of his career kind of by default, but he's going to take it at this point. While he's going to be considered one of the biggest title underdogs in a long time, there's no way he was going to pass up the offer once it came. And honestly, good for him on getting the shot. It's not going to move the needle much, but he's taking his chance.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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