The bantamweight division is in need of a new contender and Team Alpha Male fighter TJ Dillashaw is ready to enter his name into the fray.
Currently riding a four fight win streak as he walks into his next bout at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields, Dillashaw is ready to take his game to the next level and that starts with a meteoric climb up the rankings.
If you examine the current picture of the bantamweight top ten, it's hard not to envision the winner of Dillashaw and Assuncao getting some prime placement in the title picture. Currently, No. 2 ranked Urijah Faber is taking on No. 3 ranked Michael McDonald at UFC on FOX: Pettis vs. Thomson in December, but they've already both faced and been defeated by current interim champion Renan Barao.
Looking down the list a bit further, and the two names that stand out the most on current win streaks are Dillashaw and Assuncao, and that makes their fight next week in Brazil even more important to the status of the 135-pound weight class.
"I like to think about it that way," Dillashaw told FOX Sports about the magnitude of his upcoming fight. "It actually helps me out and I do good under the pressure. I feel like hopefully he's looking at the same type of thing, because we're going to bring it."
It's only been four fights since Dillashaw was a finalist on the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter, where he lost his lone bout in the UFC to former housemate John Dodson. Following that defeat, Dillashaw has looked virtually unstoppable, reeling off four wins with three of them by TKO or submission.
Depending on how things play out in the division while still awaiting the return of bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, Dillashaw could find himself staring in the face of a title shot during the next 12 months.
Some might say it's too soon for Dillashaw with his upcoming bout against Assuncao serving as his tenth professional fight. The Team Alpha Male fighter quickly puts those doubts to rest because he believes he's ready right now to take on the best competition the division can throw at him.
All he has to do is look at the UFC's current middleweight champion, who earned a title shot and knocked out the greatest fighter of all time in his tenth professional bout, and his sixth inside the UFC Octagon.
"I've been training non-stop since I've been doing this I've been in this sport. I've been making some really big gains, really fast and I think it's going to show. Look at someone like Chris Weidman that just knocked out (Anderson) Silva, he had a very quick rise in the UFC as well," Dillashaw said. "He just kept making gains, kept making gains until he was the champ. I plan on doing the same."
It may seem like a lofty goal, but he knows it's possible now. With his confidence brimming, Dillashaw is ready to beat Assuncao and start knocking on the door of a title shot very soon.
