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John Dodson takes aim at Bryan Caraway, TJ Dillashaw ahead of main event in Portland
After knocking out Manny Gamburyan in just 37 seconds back in April in a successful return to the bantamweight division, John Dodson hoped to continue his climb up the 135-pound rankings with a quick turnaround into another fight.
Instead, Dodson had to wait six months to finally get a matchup with John Lineker at UFC Fight Night in Portland.
Of course, Dodson is very appreciative of the main event spot, as well as the chance to go up against another top 10 bantamweight. But he also heard there were a few opponents who wanted nothing to do with him when the UFC came calling to offer a fight.
"It sucks. Not only was I sitting but I felt like everyone was saying no — 'Oh that's not a good matchup for me; this isn't going to work' — I know [Bryan] Caraway kept on saying no," Dodson revealed on the latest Fight Society podcast. "He wanted to fight Lineker instead of me and he told Sean [Shelby] that he was hurt against me. I was offered to Bryan Caraway and he said, 'No, I'm hurt I can't take that fight.' He got offered John Lineker and said, 'Oh yeah I'll take that fight, what day is it?' Are you kidding?
"Come on. Be a man. If you want to sit there and say that you want a title shot, you fight anybody. If we are the best in the world we should not be saying no," Dodson continued. "We should be moving forward and continue knocking people out and cement our legacy as one of the best in the world. If you want to be the best, you have to fight all the best."
Though Dodson's fight with Lineker is one that the New Mexico native actually wanted while they were both competing at flyweight, so Dodson is just as excited to face him now at 135 pounds.
If everything goes well on Saturday night, Dodson already has an idea of who he would like to face next as he looks to get into title contention in 2017.
Especially considering his introduction to the UFC was by way of "The Ultimate Fighter," and he won the reality show by knocking out TJ Dillashaw back in 2011.
Since then, Dillashaw has gone on to become bantamweight champion before dropping the belt in a very close decision to Dominick Cruz earlier this year. He's been on a mission to get back to the belt ever since.
Dodson would love the chance to face Dillishaw again with a title shot opportunity on the line.
"I want to make sure I'm cemented by knocking out Lineker. It's not like I hate the dude or he can't knock me out — it's just my time. If TJ Dillashaw thinks it's his time he should try fighting me again to see how well he's going to do," Dodson said. "He talks about fighting Dominick Cruz, saying, 'I won against Dominick' and he said he beat Dominick and he beat Raphael Assuncao and he got the revenge against Raphael Assuncao and he's going to try to do the same thing against Dominick. But why hasn't he called me out?
For his part, Dillashaw has been laser focused on a rematch with Cruz and has never been offered a rematch with Dodson since they first met during "The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 finale.
And Dodson's got to get past Lineker first — a Brazilian with massive knockout power in both hands and who's been a devastating force of nature since moving to 135 pounds.
Most recently, Lineker tore through former title contender Michael McDonald with a first-round knockout. And no doubt he hopes to do the same to Dodson when they meet on Saturday night.
Needless to say, Dodson has other ideas.
"Everybody that he's been knocking out wants to stand in front of him and think that's going to be the way to go," Dodson said. "When you see him fight people that have good footwork — like myself — it's going to create a problem for him.
"I won't be there for him to land those big heavy shots that he's been putting people to sleep with."
To hear the rest of Dodson's interview, as well as middleweight champion Michael Bisping's, listen to the latest edition of the Fight Society podcast.
Subscribe to the show via Soundcloud or iTunes as well.
