Jake Matthews met the media Saturday after his first-round submission win over Chidi Njokuani at UFC on ESPN 70.
Matthews (22-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) made ultra-quick work of Njokuani (25-11 MMA, 5-4 UFC) and needed just 69 seconds to force his tap from a rear-naked choke on the prelims at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. After two decision wins in a row, Matthews said he was glad to get back to a finish.
And while his post-fight interview backstage with UFC.com only mentioned a desire to get a matchup in the welterweight top 15, when pressed for a callout in the cage, he kind of, sort of brought of a former title challenger.
“My coach would hate it if I didn’t call out Gilbert Burns,” Matthews told Daniel Cormier in the cage in his post-fight interview. “I took Michael Morales to a hard decision. None of these top 15 guys can stand with Michael Morales. I stood with him. I deserve to be in there with those boys, so if we can organize a top 15 (fight), I’ll be there.”
Burns has lost four straight fights to former champion Belal Muhammad, current champ Jack Della Maddalena, Sean Brady and, just two months ago, Morales – who finished Burns in the first round. That goes to the root of Matthews’ callout, since his loss to Morales was a decision.
Check out Matthews’ post-fight interview in the video below.
