Alexandre Pantoja taught one of the most recent UFC newcomers, Kai Asakura, a lesson. The Japanese came into his debut fight in Dana White’s promotion with much hype, as he got handed a title shot. Although he had his moments, Asakura failed miserably at UFC 310, getting choked out. Now, the UFC CEO is looking to add another budding flyweight fighter to stack up the roster and give the champion a future challenger to look out for.
One of the most touted regional MMA promotions, Cage Fury Fighting Championships, has a roster of great budding talents, and Dana White could see one of them popping up on the Contender Series real soon. CFFC Flyweight champion Bilal Hasan, who has a fight coming up on Friday, has the DWCS on his radar, and he has hinted at possibly competing there soon. With a record of 6-0, the 23-year-old has recorded five finishes so far in his young career and would be an excellent addition to the UFC.
However, Bilal Hasan wants to impress Dana White even before he steps inside the Octagon by making a statement about his upcoming fight. He has a certain way of ending the fight in mind, and if he succeeds at that, the might flyweight might consider the move to Dana White’s Contender Series. Or else, Hasan might decide to continue going down the path he is on right now.
“I’m really focused on next Friday, first. But yeah, we’ll see. Dana White’s Contender Series next doesn’t sound too bad,” Bilal Hasan told Home of Fight. “It all just depends on how I perform this fight. The thing is, man, even if I get a win, if I don’t do it in a fashion that I’m planning to do, then we’ll see. Maybe not yet for the UFC or Dana White’s Contender Series.”
Meanwhile, Bilal Hasan made a surprising revelation thereafter during the interview. Before he even mentioned his interest in the Contender Series, the Cage Fury FC fighter had received an offer from Dana White and Co., but did not go through with it. Here’s what he had to say.
Dana White wanted Bilal Hasan to be on The Ultimate Fighter
As Dana White decided to pit UFC legends Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier as the coaches for the 33rd season of The Ultimate Fighter, he also had intentions to bring Bilal Hasan in as a fighter in one of the teams. When the 23-year-old received the phone call regarding it, he decided to take a step back. Hasan gave it a thought and made his decision to skip the opportunity because he and his team weren’t sold on the fact that he was ready for the big stage, and the UFC understood his stance.
“They did call me up for The Ultimate Fighter. It was also timing as well. It was right after my fight in February. They wanted me to fly out the next week to start filming right away,” Bilal Hasan added. “It didn’t really work out with our timeline, and overall, like, me and my team, we just believe that, you know, it wasn’t really the right time for it. So, they said, ‘Yeah, just take your time. Be patient and just keep getting as much experience as possible.”
Well, it may take a while for Bilal Hasan before he makes his UFC move. He’s got far less experience than Kai Asakura to consider making that big jump to the UFC. Moreover, he’s quite young, so it’s understandable that he wants to take some time. What do you think? Let us know in the comments down below.
The post After Kai Asakura Failure, Dana White Resorts Towards Undefeated MMA Champ to Alert Alexandre Pantoja in UFC appeared first on EssentiallySports.
