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Ian McCall educates Justin Scoggins; calls for fight with Wilson Reis at UFC 202
Ian McCall won't hide his disappointment that he didn't get to fight at UFC 201 after his opponent Justin Scoggins failed to make weight, which forced the cancellation of their bout last weekend in Atlanta.
It was a long road back to the Octagon for McCall, who contemplated retirement over the past year while dealing with lingering injuries that continued to plague his body in preparation for upcoming fights.
So when Scoggins dropped out at the last minute leaving McCall with no opponent, he was noticeably upset and with good reason. Of course it didn't help matters much that McCall heard Scoggins making any number of excuses about why he missed weight in the wake of the fight being cancelled and yanked from UFC 201.
"He's been super immature and talking all this (expletive) and saying a bunch of stuff," McCall told FOX Sports. "For one, you make no sense and two, there's a thing called science that I understand that make what you're saying impossible. He states these numbers like 'I talked to my doctors and I was at two-percent body fat and said I couldn't cut anymore'. If you get under three percent body fat, you're feeding off your internal organs. That's impossible.
As disappointed as he was with not fighting, McCall says the UFC went above and beyond to make sure he was financially compensented for his time even if he didn't get to compete.
"They gave me everything," McCall said. "They gave me my show money, my win money and my Reebok money. That's a big deal."
While McCall was nearly out of the sport a few months ago, the renewed vigor he got from a much healthier and happier training camp to prepare for Scoggins gave him the enthusiasm to make one more run at the UFC flyweight title.
McCall was ranked as one of the top fighters in the world at 125 pounds when he made his UFC debut and to date he gave Demetrious Johnson arguably his toughest test after nearly beating him in their first fight back in 2012.
But McCall isn't trying to get by on past accomplishments and instead would like to earn his way back into title contention.
That's why he asked for a fight with Wilson Reis at UFC 202 on August 20 to make up for the bout he didn't get to have in Atlanta last weekend.
"I definitely want to fight at UFC 202," McCall said. "I think this fight has garnered enough attention to put us at 202. I think more or less it could be a No. 1 contender fight. It's perfect because I beat Wilson and then Demetrious still has to fight "The Ultimate Fighter" winner. So I could fight (Joseph) Benavidez or I could fight (Jussier) Formiga or somebody else ranked. It's a good set up for me to build to actually earn a title shot. I don’t need it free. That's how I see it going down."
"I'm ready and willing for anything but Wilson would be nice because it would put me right at the front of the line."
Going from near retirement to calling for a title shot is a huge swing for McCall, but it's an undertaking he is willing and able to tackle.
Nothing would make him happier at this point than finally challenging for the UFC flyweight title and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get there.
"Giving me this one last shot I have at a title run, a serious shot because I didn't think I was going to fight again," McCall said. "I had come to peace that I was never going to fight again. When they called me to make this fight, I was very in doubt if I was going to make it through training camp without an injury. But I did it. Now I can't wait."
