LAS VEGAS — Ian McCall has designs on doing for the flyweight division what Conor McGregor has done at featherweight.
Before McGregor, 145 pounds was stagnant. The champion Jose Aldo is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and an all-time great. But he was lacking a foil until McGregor, the charismatic and cocky Irishman, showed up.
You could say the same things about flyweight. Demetrious Johnson is superb at MMA — a phenomenally skilled champion. He just has not become a needle mover for the UFC.
McCall plans on changing all that.
“Put it this way, the UFC can create a superstar out of anyone,” McCall told MMAFighting.com on Thursday at UFC 183 media day. “Yeah, they had a brash-talking, real good fighter in Conor, but they made him a superstar. Well, you have another even better looking, brash-talking person and an American in me. They see the work that I put in, they’re going to make a superstar out of me. I will force them to do it. They will do it.”
McCall (13-4-1) meets John Lineker on Saturday night here at MGM Grand. The winner will likely be granted a title shot against Demetrious Johnson. “Uncle Creepy” believes he’s exactly what the 125-pound weight class needs — someone who will shake things up and bring attention.
“I am going to elevate it,” McCall said. “DJ needs me. The division needs me. The sport needs me.”
McCall, 30, said he’s feeling healthier than he has in years coming into the bout with Lineker. He was forced to pull out of a fight with Lineker in Brazil back in November with a bacterial infection the night before they were supposed to meet. That was a recurring illness for McCall, but he has shaken it now.
“The more thinking about it I do, I haven’t been 100-percent for awhile,” he said. “I feel incredible right now. It’s exciting feeling this good coming into a fight. I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”
The path is clear for him now. McCall has won two straight and has already fought Johnson to a draw in 2012. Johnson won the rematch, but that bout was really the last competitive one “Mighty Mouse” has had. Since then, he has been a dominant champion. McCall thinks he has his number, though.
“I can definitely make him a bigger star,” McCall said. “I don’t know if I can get him riled up. I’m gonna rattle the cage, I’m gonna poke the bear as much as possible. If I can get him worked up, with my psychological kind of things, it’s gonna be a good thing for me.”
McCall doesn’t plan on being McGregor. He’s just going to be himself and mostly that’s all he needs, he feels, if the UFC promotes him correctly.
“I was here before Conor,” McCall said. “I don’t know how people don’t see that. It’s always going to be me. I can never not do me. He does his job really well. I’m like proud of him, because he’s done so good. And he’s a cool guy from what I know so far. So it’s nice for him to show what we’re capable of, what as a star you can accomplish and make money-wise — how with the UFC’s help, you can elevate your status in the sport and as an athlete and everything. It’s exciting.
“It’s an entertainment business, first and foremost. There’s guys that are here that don’t belong, but they’re entertaining. The best guys, the best athletes don’t always make it in any sport if they’re not entertaining.”
Johnson doesn’t necessarily embrace the promotion part of the sport. He’s solely concerned with winning fights, which he does just about as well as anyone on the planet. Kind of like Aldo. McCall is ready to stir the pot, much like McGregor.
“He needs me just as much as I need him,” McCall said. “And we have one goal and that’s the gold around your waist. Realistically, I’ve exposed him before. I’m gonna take his lunch money. It’s how it’s gonna work and he knows it, too.”