Evan Dunham is a Conor McGregor fan – but if anybody asks, Tony Ferguson is the UFC champ

While matchmaking is not an exact science, there is a general logic to the process, which often involves fighters paired with peers who are coming off equally positive or negative outcomes.

But then how do you go about planning your octagon future when you neither won nor lost your most recent bout?

That’s what lightweight Evan Dunham, who fought Beneil Dariush to a majority draw last week at UFC 216, will find out.

“I’m not going to fight down,” Dunham told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’ll tell you that right now. I’m only fighting up. And I said that going into my last fight. Because they tried to give me someone who wasn’t ranked.

“And I was like, ‘Dude, I’m coming off four wins. If this isn’t an opportunity for me to fight up, I don’t know what is.’ And since I didn’t take a loss, I’m not changing my stance.”

Dunham (18-6-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) and Dariush (14-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) opened UFC 216’s pay-per-view main card on a solid note. Dariush’s strong start had him taking a pair of 10-8 scores in the first round, but Dunham’s rally granted him the 10-9 scorecards that he needed to even things out – despite one judge seeing it Dariush’s way.

As it often happens with outcomes like these, both Dariush and Dunham were left thinking they’d done enough to win the fight. But at least one of them found out that, after 10 years, there are still surprises to be had in the octagon.

“A draw never even crossed my mind until they said it, to tell you the truth,” Dunham said. “Because I think this was what, my 33rd fight or something like that total, counting amateurs. And I’d never had a draw before. So I wasn’t thinking draw. I was actually thinking I won that, because I won (Rounds 2 and 3).

“When I’m there, I don’t think about, ‘How did they score this round?’ I think about, ‘Did I win that round, or did I lose that round?’ But after this fight I’m probably going to start thinking a little bit more, like ‘OK, how exactly did they score it?'”

Dunham’s plans moving forward were made clear: He’s not dipping below himself in the official UFC rankings, in which he occupies the No. 14 spot. But like a lot of his fellow UFC lightweights, Dunham knows that making your way up can be complicated given the division’s current state of affairs.

“Kevin Lee said it best, the rankings don’t mean (expletive) at this point,” Dunham said. “Which breaks my heart, hearing that as a guy who’s based my whole career trying to make my way up the rankings. Because, in my idea, you work your way up the rankings, that’s what gets you a title shot.”

Instead, Dunham believes there’s a logjam atop the division – with a few key players making it harder by their inactivity. That starts with champion Conor McGregor, who Dunham clarifies he is actually a fan of, but also goes by the likes of McGregor’s two-time opponent Nate Diaz and undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“The division is so jammed up at the top that it makes it really tough for anybody to work their way up,” Dunham said. “Because you’ve got Diaz, who’s not doing anything. You’ve got Conor, who’s – well, last weekend kind of helped it out. Now we have an interim champion, and there is starting to be some movement.”

The way Dunham – as well as a large group of people that includes UFC President Dana White – sees it, the title fight to make now is between newly crowned interim champion Tony Ferguson (24-3 MMA, 14-1 UFC) and McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC). Of course, rankings logic is one good reason for that. But Dunham also sees the battle as an intriguing stylistic matchup.

“That’s why the interim title was made,” Dunham said. “That’s the reason why they did the whole thing last weekend. Ferguson is the champ. In my book, if anybody asks, Ferguson is the champ of the 155 division right now.”

The next title challenger, Dunham reasons, could very well emerge from a UFC 218 meeting between ex-titleholder Eddie Alvarez and former WSOF champion Justin Gaethje. A meeting that, it turns out, Dunham is particularly invested in.

“I would like to fight the loser of that,” Dunham said. “Usually, they go loser-loser, and I’m kind of in this grey area of a draw. I don’t know what it means, but I guess I’ll figure it out pretty soon. But I would love to fight the loser of that fight, because the winner should get a title shot. It makes sense to me.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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