He's a fan, but Antonio Carlos Junior wants Brazilian payback on ex-champ Chris Weidman

SAO PAULO – Let’s not label it a callout. Antonio Carlos Junior just has his eye on a certain potential next opponent.

On Saturday at UFC Fight Night 119, Carlos Junior (9-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) dominated middleweight Jack Marshman (22-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and picked up a first-round submission victory.

Following the preliminary-card bout, which aired on FS2 prior to the FS1-televised main card at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Carlos Junior was asked about what’s next. After all, with four straight wins and a possible debut in the upcoming USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, the 27-year-old Brazilian’s prospects are looking promising, especially in light of his latest victory.

“I said before the interviews, man, I’m going to submit the guy – he’s never been submitted before – in the first round,” Carlos Junior said of Marshman. “And I just did it. So I’m really happy. I’m not even in my prime.”

Carlos Junior, who won “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” as a heavyweight in 2014, said he’s just looking for challenges at this point in his promising 185-pound career, which includes three submission stoppages during his current four-fight winning streak. And what better challenge than a former middleweight champion like Chris Weidman (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who’s ranked No. 7?

“He’s a big name, and I’m a huge fan,” Carlos Junior said of Weidman. “It would be great to share the octagon with him. He’s beat a lot of Brazilians like Anderson Silva two times – the greatest of all-time. He beat Vitor Belfort. He beat Lyoto Machida. He beat Demian Maia. So it would be great to represent my country against him.”

Outside of the cage, Carlos Junior said he’s just looking forward to a November wedding, seeing some friends and family, and spending the holidays at home in Brazil after training the past few years at American Top Team in Florida. He’s anxious to get back to training and continue his current run of success, but first? A little break.

“I think I deserve it,” he said with a smile.

Check out the full interview above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 119, check out the UFC Events section of the site.