Raphael Assuncao hopeful for early fall title shot against T.J. Dillashaw

We already know T.J. Dillashaw would prefer his first bantamweight title defense would come against Raphael Assuncao.

Obviously, Assuncao has no problem with that. On Tuesday, the Brazilian contender said he’s getting closer to being ready to return from injury, and is interested in an early fall timeline if he is indeed next up for Dillashaw.

“I can be ready to fight whenever,” Assuncao told MMAjunkie Radio on Tuesday. “The UFC has a time frame as far as booking their fights. I think they’re booked all the way to September. So that would be a good time right there, September-October.”

Assuncao (22-4 MMA, 6-1 UFC) already has a win over Dillashaw, a split-decision victory this past October in Brazil. It’s a fight Dillashaw recently told MMAjunkie Radio he would love to get back, believing he won the fight.

The win for Assuncao gave him five in a row since dropping down to bantamweight after a featherweight loss in his UFC debut. After the Dillashaw win, he beat Pedro Munhoz. But injury setbacks kept him from getting a shot at Renan Barao (32-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) 10 days ago at UFC 173. Dillashaw (10-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) got that shot instead, and pulled off a major upset with a fifth-round TKO in a dominant performance.

Assuncao believes the rematch is the best way for the UFC to go, given how the two match up and how close their first bout was.

“I think it’s an exciting fight both ways,” he said. “I don’t care where the fight happens. I think it would be a win-win for everybody. Hopefully they put it together. It was a close fight, our records, guys we’ve beat …”

Assuncao put it out there on Twitter to UFC President Dana White that he wants a title shot. And while White didn’t respond to him directly, he said the UFC’s matchmaking team is starting to hint around that he may be next in line.

“I got a text from the (matchmaker) yesterday asking about my injuries, so right now I just want to see how it looks and go from there,” Assuncao said. “I’m anxious already. I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m ready to do this.”

For now, the UFC hasn’t committed to when Dillashaw might make his first title defense, but the fighter gets married later this month, making an early fall time table something reasonable.

Assuncao said he didn’t have a rooting interest in the Dillashaw-Barao fight – though he believed a Dillashaw upset might work to his advantage.

“I wasn’t rooting for anybody. I was neutral,” he said. “I thought if T.J. won, it would be a little better for me in terms of having the fight happen quicker.”

For complete coverage of UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.