Wilson Reis asks for a fight for the flyweight belt: “I deserve this fight”

Reis who faces Johnson next. (Photo: Getty Images)

First Brazilian to win at UFC 208, held last Saturday (11), in Brooklyn, Wilson reis, who defeated Yuta Sasaki by unanimous decision, has already decided what his next step would be: face the flyweight champion (under 56kg) Demetrious Johnson for the category belt. According to the Brazilian, number 5 in the division's rankings, he has already proven, inside the octagon, that he deserves the opportunity to fight for the title.

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“I wanted to ask for the fight, it was on the tip of my tongue already, against the Demetrious Johnson, by the belt. I think I deserve it and that he owes me this fight. Now I have three wins in the category, I'm doing well, unfortunately it wasn't a fight that I managed to finish, but I won, and it was certainly unanimous. It's too early to say, but I believe that, regardless of how the fight went, just because of my victory, I deserve to fight (with Johnson). Whether I wanted to or not, I took a very big risk, a guy with that stature (Yuta Sasaki), he was from the top category and went down, so it was a risk to accept, but I knew he was at a higher level. I won, and I won well, so I deserve this fight”, he declared, in an interview with the website ‘Combate.com’.

Reis was already scheduled to fight for the title in July last year, at UFC 201, but the fight was canceled due to an injury to Johnson, who had to abandon the duel. Afterwards, however, he was not given another chance and was passed behind by Tim Elliott, who challenged for the belt after winning TUF 24. Now, however, Wilson admits that he is waiting for a new opportunity and guarantees that he has the necessary weapons to disembark the current champion.

“I have no contact regarding the title fight. When they canceled the fight, it was even worse, because they said: “The guy is injured, when he comes back, there will be a fight for sure”. It's a bitter feeling, but I'm a pretty positive guy, so I thought, “This is what happened, for some reason it happened,” so I try to move on. I always want to fight, my “goal” is to be champion in the flyweight category, I think I have the body type, I have jiu-jitsu, I have striking, I have everything to be champion. I came close to fighting for the belt, but he got injured and the UFC decided not to have the fight, but now I'm ready, I've won again, I'm ready to come back next month if I have to fight. I really wanted to fight in May, which will be the first holiday of the year (in the USA), and it's the date that the Demetrious Johnson wants to fight, from what I heard. I think nothing is fairer”, concluded the fighter.