Jussier Formiga not opposed to a title shot but wants to avenge ‘bitter’ loss to Ian McCall

Jussier Formiga holds three losses in his career, yet there is one in particular that he is "bitter" about and interested in avenging: his first professional loss to Ian McCall.

"I will fight whoever they want, but I'm still bitter about my loss to McCall," Formiga told MMAFighting.com. "I fought him three years ago, it was a tough fight, and he ended up defeating me. I wasn't so physically strong by that time, I wasn't in a good moment in my career. I can do much better against him. If I could choose my next opponent, I'd choose to fight him."

Formiga held an unblemished 9-0 record before he faced McCall in February 2011. He lost that bout via unanimous decision, as well as the designation of being the No. 1 ranked Flyweight in the world.

McCall and Formiga are now ranked No. 3 and 4 respectively in their division and a meeting between the two does not seem like a ridiculous suggestion. In fact, Formiga believes it will be a far more competitive clash this time around.

"I think it would be fifty, fifty," he said. "When I fought him, he was heavier than me. He was coming from WEC, where he fought as a bantamweight, and I gave him a tough fight. I think it would be a closer match-up this time."

Considering the next Flyweight title challenger is Chris Cariaso, who was coming off a split decision victory over Louis Smolka, Formiga believes he himself is close to earning his first ever UFC title shot.

"Man, I'm excited just to think about it," he said. "Fighting for the UFC title would be great, the best. I fought well in this fight, and I will fight even better in my next fight. It's up to the UFC. If they want to give me another fight, I'm fine with it. I wanted to be at the top 5 after this fight, and here I am. This fight was good to show the UFC fans that I'm one of the best."

Transcription taken from MMAFighting.com.