Dana White appears to be
sympathetic to Ricardo Lamas’ plight of late.
The UFC president on Saturday
told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)
that Lamas (13-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will be paid his show money for next month’s UFC
162 event in Las Vegas – even though he’s not likely to remain on the card.
Lamas was scheduled to fight “The
Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung (13-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC), on July 6. The winner
likely was going to move into the top featherweight contender position to meet
the winner of a scheduled Aug. 3 bout between champ Jose Aldo and Anthony
Pettis.
But a Pettis knee injury
forced him out of the title fight, and that left a pair of options. And the UFC
went with Jung instead of Lamas to head to UFC 163 in Rio de Janeiro to
challenge for the title.
When asked why the UFC went
with Jung, who has not fought since May 2012 due to injury, got the shot over
Lamas, who has a four-fight win streak and has beaten two fighters who at one
point were offered title shots with Aldo, White’s response was simple.
“Why not?,” he asked
MMAjunkie.com. “You have two guys who both could’ve gotten this fight and
Ricardo, unfortunately, I know is bummed out. And I told him, ‘You’re in that
place that Chuck Liddell was in at one time. You’re in that place that Carlos
Condit was in at one time. And you’re in that place that Johny Hendricks has
been in. You will get yours. I promise you.’”
White’s references to Liddell,
Condit and Hendricks all had to do with fighters believing they were going to
be next to fight for a title, but were passed up in line – forcing them to
continue to wait their turn.
Most recently, Hendricks
thought he was next in line to face Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight
title. But Nick Diaz came back from a loss and a yearlong suspension and was
given a shot at him at UFC 158 in March.
White said the company is
still searching for a replacement for Jung to step in on short notice and face
Lamas at the card, which takes place July 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las
Vegas. But if that doesn’t happen, Lamas will be compensated for the UFC’s
choice to go with Jung over him.
“I’m going to pay him his show
money for July 6,” White said. “We’re still trying to get him a fight, but if
we don’t, he’s going to get his show money no matter what.”
This is not the first time
Lamas has been in position to be disappointed. After a first-round brutal TKO
stoppage of Erik Koch in Chicago this past January at UFC on FOX 6, Lamas
thought he was in line to fight the winner of Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar. He
traveled to Las Vegas for UFC 156 and watched cageside, thinking he’d be next
to meet Aldo.
Then he found out after the
fight that Pettis had texted White and requested a move down from lightweight
to featherweight to challenge the champ. And just like that, Aldo was stuck in
line. With Pettis injury, he couldn’t get a change in fortune as Jung got the
call instead of him.
But White said a fight between
Aldo and the “Zombie” is one that fans will get behind.
“There aren’t too many that
are bummed out, other than Ricardo, that ‘Zombie’ is getting the fight,” White
said. (Source)
