After Snapping His First Career Losing Streak, Ricardo Lamas Eyes a Return to Contender Status

Ricardo Lamas is back in the winner’s column with his emphatic technical knockout victory over Darren Elkins over the weekend at UFC Argentina, but the former featherweight title challenger is pumping the brakes on any talk of an immediate return to contention.

Lamas headed into last Saturday’s bout with Elkins on the heels of the first back-to-back losses of his career, against Josh Emmett last December and most recently a split decision loss to Mirsad Bektic back in June.

“The Bully” was asked in his post-match interview if he was looking at a potential fight against the winner of the featherweight championship between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega. The 36 year-old dismissed any talk of a potential title fight for some time with the veteran stating that he is focused on getting back into the form of previous years when he was considered one of the best fighters at 145 pounds.

“I think I’ve got to get a streak going before I do,” Lamas said.

“It was very important, especially coming off my last two fights,” Lamas continued. “I lost two in a row for the first time in my career. That kind of puts you in a dark place as an athlete and as a fighter, and you have to fight off all those inner voices of doubt that creep into your head.

“It was important to me to not only win this fight, but to perform well and finish it.”