John Lineker wants his chance for the gold.
The Brazilian flyweight meets Phil Harris at UFC Fight Night 30 on Saturday, and he hopes to earn a shot at the UFC title with a big win Saturday night.
“I’m climbing the rankings,” Lineker told MMAFighting.com. “I want to do an exciting fight to get closer to the title.”
If he’s victorious at UFN 30, Lineker will have his fourth straight win in the UFC. It could earn him a shot at the winner of Johnson vs. Joseph Benavidez, who meet at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale on Nov. 30.
“I have no idea how many fights I still have to do, but I hope this is the last before a title shot,” he said. “I’m focused on this fight first, but I hope the next one is for the title.”
The former Jungle Fight bantamweight champion has beaten his last couple opponents with second-round knockouts, and he trained hard to show once again why he’s called “Hands of Stone”.
“I believe he will try to take me down and work on the ground, but I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I will keep the fight standing and use my boxing. My hands are 100 percent, and I will get the win.”
Lineker and Harris were set to meet at UFC 163, but Harris was removed from the card with an injury. With the fight rescheduled to UFN 30, Lineker sees an advantage.
“My preparation was perfect,” he said. “I worked on my wrestling a lot and I’m feeling great for this fight. I was already training for him when he was pulled out from the card with an injury, so I just restarted the training with the same strategy.”
The Brazilian has missed weight in two in his four UFC bouts, and a long trip to Manchester doesn’t help matters. However, Lineker is not considering a move back to the bantamweight division.
“The long flight definitely didn’t help,” he said. “But I still have a lot to show. I will stay in this division. It’s hard to make weight, but this is where I’m staying.”