Ian McCall Would Prefer One-Night Flyweight Tournament
Ian McCall will make his UFC debut Friday in Sydney, Australia, at UFC on FX 2.
The No. 1-ranked flyweight in the world, “Uncle Creepy” jumps right into the fray with a bout against former bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson. The match is part of the UFC’s four-man flyweight tournament, which also features Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani.
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McCall on the flyweight tournament: “It’s an honor to be able to go straight into the deep end. I just go straight to the top. It’s the kind of thing that can thrust me into the spotlight and show that I am the best. I can beat anyone at my weight. … It’s going to be fun to watch. I know that much.”
On Johnson’s style: “It’s not something I can’t overcome.
It’s the same kind of fighting style I have. Yeah, he has good
timing and changing levels and everything, but it’s something that
I can definitely deal with. We have a good game plan that we built
to do exactly that, and I’m excited to show it off.”
On the tournament format: “I like it. I would say let’s do it all in one night. It would be cool. It would really be tough and straining … . It’s old school and it’s something that goes back to what it used to be.”
On his win over previously No. 1-ranked Jussier da Silva: “The opportunity presented itself, and we knew we could win the fight. It all just worked out. It was one of those things that I had already made a plan. I had already done all of this stuff to refocus [on MMA] and give it another try and be serious about it. Everything since then has just fallen into place perfectly.”
On his win over Darrell Montague: “I was able to kind of show exactly how I want to fight. I took every single thing he had to offer. I got to obviously give it back in return, break him mentally, physically and really just kind of show the superiority of the game that I’ve effectively made for myself.”
On having personality: “There is definitely that side of it. I have the ‘Uncle Creepy’ character. It’s attached itself with all of the different entities, like my life story, the name, the look, everything that I do, the way I fight, how I’m kind of open to the public. Like Dana White says, the fighters are very open. We’re the most accessible athletes on the planet and it’s very true. Luckily, somehow, the stars aligned and people have and will hopefully keep falling in love with who I am and what I do and really see me in a different light. I’m not just a meathead fighter. I try and stay away from that whole thing as much as possible. It’s worked out for me as far as dollars and cents, and it’s always worked out for me just as a general lifestyle. I live a comfortable life. I’m happy.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 15:34).
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