According to UFC Bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao, he is ready and willing to make his Octagon return whenever the UFC calls him. He also claims he actually had a date for a return match against T.J. Dillashaw, a fight he thought was set until Dillashaw pulled out.
“I’m 100% right now, ready to return to action,” Assuncao said to BloodyElbow.com. “We’re just waiting on the UFC now. T.J. Dillashaw and myself, we were offered a main event fight which was going to be the May 29 card. It looks like he was hurt then, so that fight didn’t happen. But that was the original plan for my return, May 29, T.J. vs. myself. He wasn’t ready. Somebody else took the spot.”
Assuncao continued, pointing out that Dillashaw claimed he was ready in case Urijah Faber or Dominick Cruz pulled out of the upcoming title fight at UFC 199, but somehow isn’t ready to fight him in their proposed rematch.
“The funny thing is that, [Dillashaw] said in an interview that he was ready to step in if either Urijah or [Dominick Cruz] was hurt, he was ready to step up a week later, but for our main event fight, he wasn’t ready. So try to figure that out,” said Assuncao. “As far as the ankle, I’m ready to get back in action. It’s been a long time. A lot of emotions right now. I’m a little anxious right now to get back to action. I’m ready to put my name back in line.”
Assuncao finished the story, explaining why he is still waiting to find out when and where he will be making his Octagon return.
“I can’t sit and wait for anybody anymore,” he said. “That’s something that me and my good agent, we’re gonna discuss. I can’t sit and wait for people and hope. After T.J. pulled out of main event fight, I thought they would replace him with another fight. So I was expecting a replacement. But that didn’t happen.”
“A whole new main event was placed, and the card was done a couple days after. So I was kind of left there by myself, but hopefully we’ll get a fight soon. I’m still hoping for Dillashaw, which is a fight that makes sense if he wants the next shot. I think it’s my shot next anyways. I’ve been saying that for two years. By position and ranking, fight win streak, I’ve been the guy for two years now. I know things happen, stuff happens, stuff changes, but I think I’m still the guy.”
Dominick Cruz defends the UFC Bantamweight Title against Urijah Faber in a trilogy bout in the co-main event of UFC 199. Headlined by Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman in an immediate rematch for the UFC Middleweight Title, UFC 199 takes place on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at The Forum in Los Angeles, California.