EXCLUSIVE | James Vick lists the four ranked opponents that the UFC has in mind for him

Streaking UFC lightweight James Vick, who is fresh off a mauling of Joe Duffy, was hoping to battle Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the main event of the UFC’s upcoming trip to Austin. Now that Cerrone has been booked for a fight with Yancy Medeiros in Austin’s main event, however, Vick knows this isn’t going to happen.

With this development, Vick has been forced to look elsewhere in the hunt for his next opponent. Apparently, the UFC has a few options in mind to that end.

“I talked to [UFC matchmaker Shelby], it was probably last week,” Vick said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “They’re going to ask Kevin Lee to fight me, which they don’t think is going to happen. Then he said they’re going to ask [Michael] Chiesa to fight me. I think they really want to make that fight with Chiesa, because it makes sense for the UFC and for us.”

While Chiesa sounds like a frontrunner in the search for his next opponent, Vick doesn’t believe the grappling specialist actually wants to get in the cage with him.

“They don’t want to fight me,” he said. “I’ve been calling the dude out. I’ve been talking shit to him on Twitter. He don’t want to fight me.”

Luckily, Vick says the promotion has two other interesting names in mind for him, should the Chiesa fight fail to materialize.

“Then they’re talking about [Francisco] Trinaldo or Paul Felder. I don’t think Paul Felder’s manager’s is going to let him fight me,” he said. “I assume I’m probably going to end up fighting Trinaldo, which isn’t a step down for me. I’ll fight him. Hopefully, Trinaldo will take the fight. He’s actually ranked one above me. It’s not a step down. Trinaldo beat Yancy Medeiros. People don’t remember. Trinaldo beat him pretty easily. Why the hell aren’t we getting the main event spot [in Austin]?”

Who do you want to see James Vick fight next? Do any of the names above appeal to you?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 28/12/2017.