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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
If featherweight Ricardo Lamas had his way, his next fight would come against brash Irishman and rising star Conor McGregor.
McGregor's drawn the ire of a lot of different competitors at 145 lbs. to date, and in an interview with Duane Finley at BleacherReport.com, Lamas laid out why he wants the fight, and why McGregor should have to get past someone like him if he wants to fight for the UFC Title.
"I want to fight Conor McGregor next," Lamas said. "He's had a lot to say on Twitter and talked a lot of trash, calling me a p*** and whatever. Then when someone asks you who you want to fight and there is a guy out there calling you a p*** what do you think I'm going to say? Of course I want to fight McGregor."
"He's definitely a good name for the sport and brings a lot of attention to our weight class, but I just feel like the UFC has set him up with guys that match up well to his style," Lamas continued. "I'm not saying they are setting him up with easy fights, because the guys he's fighting are tough guys in their own right, but they have been guys who are going to stand there and strike with him and not try to take him down. Even if they did, they are guys who don't have the wrestling experience to technically do it or make it count."
"These are guys who aren't wrestlers and don't come from a wrestling background. Diego Brandao is a jiu-jitsu guy, but he stands and strikes with everyone he faces. I think the UFC may be protecting their investment a little bit. I have also heard that his camp has specifically told the UFC not to match him up against wrestlers. So it's just kind of one of those things where if he's going to fight for the title, then he should have to go through a wrestler first. There are a lot of us up here at the top of the division. There's myself, Cub [Swanson], Frankie [Edgar] and there's Bermudez. We are all top guys who are all wrestlers, and none of us have fought him yet."
Penick's Analysis: The UFC has been booking McGregor in fights which they believe will deliver excitement, and to this point that's what we've gotten out of him. But there is criticism to be levied if he gets a title fight without having been tested by any of the very skilled grapplers in the division, because as of yet he hasn't faced anyone with considerable skill in those disciplines. Of course, if the UFC thinks he makes for a more interesting title contender for Jose Aldo and don't want to risk him against someone who's already lost a title fight, there's sense in keeping him away from those matchups as well. Still, McGregor himself has said he's got to beat all comers at all times to hold the top spot, and eventually he's going to run into someone like Lamas or Mendes or Edgar or Lentz, etc. Whether that happens before a title bout remains to be seen, but it will happen at some point in the future.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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