UFC's T.J. Dillashaw wants short rest, open to fight with 'name' Brad Pickett

Following a weekend win at UFC on FOX 7, T.J. Dillashaw is looking at the bantamweight division’s rankings and hoping to fight one of the names listed above him.

Dillashaw (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) picked up an impressive first-round TKO win over Hugo Viana (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at this past Saturday’s event. It marked his fourth consecutive win, and in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA bantamweight rankings, he moved from No. 14 to No. 13.

Dillashaw believes Viana was an underrated opponent.

“He doesn’t have a huge name behind him, but he’s a very tough fighter, and people are going to start to realize that,” Dillashaw told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

He hopes that’s not the case with his next opponent. Dillashaw believes he deserves a Top 10 opponent, and preferably it’ll come against someone with an already-established name.

He mentioned No. 6-ranked Brad Pickett and fast-rising prospect Erik Perez as possibilities. Pickett, especially, would give Dillashaw a big name on his resume, which he knows is crucial when it comes to earning title shots.

“It’s different when you’re fighting a guy with a name,” he said. “Pickett’s definitely a name.

” … I think I’m headed to a title run. I definitely feel like I should be fighting a Top 10 guy. I mean, I was supposed to be fighting a Top 10 guy last December before I got hurt. I was supposed to fight Mike Easton. So they were going to shove me that direction anyway.”

Dillashaw actually knocked out Issei Tamura on March 16 before his win over Viana just 35 days later. He said he left the Viana fight fairly unscathed, and he’s ready to step in as a replacement if the UFC needs him for a big-name opponent. Otherwise, he’s looking forward to a small break.

“I’m healthy,” he said. “I had another first-round finish without really getting touched. So yeah, I could definitely take another fight. But yeah, it’s also nice to let you body rest when you’ve been in a comp so long. Maybe something in between.”

Dillashaw also is anxious to show the continued improvement of Team Alpha Male under new head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig. In addition to Dillashaw, teammates Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez also picked up quality wins over the weekend. All the winners credited Ludwig, a UFC vet, for their improvement.

“It’s cool to show off what he’s been doing for us, showing what we practice with him everyday working in the cage,” Dillashaw said. “He’s only been here since January, and he’s making some big improvements in the team already just by paying attention to details with what we do and having a game plan for each fighter and knowing what works for each fighter.

“I feel like we had a great team already … but now we’re putting the little things together.”

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 7, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

MMAjunkie.com 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.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.