After beating Eddie Wineland at this past Saturday’s UFC on FOX 16 event, bantamweight Bryan Caraway would like to welcome Michael McDonald back into the UFC’s octagon.
The way Caraway (20-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) sees it, McDonald (16-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has held onto his high ranking for a little too long, and he’d like to relieve him of it.
“Who above me (in rankings) that I’ve been wanting to fight forever, so I might as well stay with it – I don’t know how he is with his injuries, but I really want to fight McDonald,” Caraway told MMAjunkie Radio soon after the Wineland win. “I’d been wanting to fight him or Eddie Wineland, whoever (was) going to come back first, whoever’s ready to fight first.
“I really want to fight McDonald; he’s been in that No. 4 or 5th ranked spot forever, and I really want to break into that top five. I’m only trying to look forward.”
While McDonald, who’s ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, has yet to return from a long injury layoff, No. 14 Caraway got one name checked off his list when he outpointed Wineland (21-11-1 MMA, 3-5 UFC) on the main card of this past Saturday’s event at Chicago’s United Center.
The win put Caraway back in the win column after a decision loss to top contender Raphael Assuncao this past October. It also put him in a unique place in the UFC’s bantamweight division – and not necessarily one with a lot of leeway if upward mobility is his main concern.
“They announced that over the speakers, and (UFC matchmaker) Sean Shelby told me that other than Raphael Assuncao, I’ll be the highest ranked guy that hasn’t fought for the belt,” he said. “So who knows. Maybe the cards will fall right and I’ll get my chance in the title in my next fight. I’ve finished every single guy except for Wineland; it’s hard to finish every guy in the top 10, top five. I think I belong up there at the top. So either Michael McDonald, or I want to fight for the belt.”
In UFC on FOX 16’s headliner, Caraway’s former training partner and former castmate on “The Ultimate Figher 14,” bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw, put a beatdown on ex-champ Renan Barao in a rematch from his upset this past year.
Prior to the rematch, Dillashaw had been expected to face Assuncao, who’s the only UFC bantamweight with a win over the champ. But an injury shelved the surging Brazilian, whose slow recovery also scratched a scheduled bout with Urijah Faber at March’s UFC Fight Night 62 event.
The UFC has yet to make official the next contender to Dillashaw’s title, though the promotion typically doesn’t announce an immediate opponent after a title bout. But, of course, Caraway would like to recommend himself if other top contenders are shelved.
“I would love to get a crack at (Dillashaw),” he said. “I might not look as pretty on my feet, but I really think I could go out there and win rounds. And if it wasn’t for the title, it would be Michael McDonald.”
For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 16, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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