Paul Craig thinks he is just two wins away from being in the mix for a UFC light heavyweight title shot.
Craig, who is unbeaten in over two years, will return to the octagon for the first time in 10 months when he faces Nikita Krylov at UFC London this Saturday. 'Bearjew' was supposed to fight Alex Gustafsson last September, but the Swede withdrew due to injury.
Sitting just outside the top ten at 205-pounds, Craig is confident a stoppage win against the finishing machine Krylov will be enough to leave him one win away from title contention.
"Nikita Krylov is the guy that's standing in my way and I need to put on a performance," he told Mirror Fighting . "If I don't and I can't beat Krylov, then I don't deserve to be in the top ten. Krylov's the guy that I need beat and I never look past an opponent.
"But I have got gold in mind and I'd love to be the first Scottish UFC champion, that's what I'd really love. That's my dream, that's my goal, that's everything I want to get towards. This weekend, Krylov's in the way.
Craig picked up his third straight win by breaking the arm of surging contender Jamahal Hill in his last fight having picked up stoppage wins against 'Shogun' Rua and Gadzhimurad Antigulov before the win.
The Scotsman, who got into MMA at 24, previously outlined his plans to retire from fighting once he turned 35. Celebrating that birthday this November, the recent success of UFC fighters who are older them has made him reconsider his retirement plan. The current light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira turns 43 this year whilst former champion Jan Blachowicz turned 39 last month.
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"When I first started MMA, I said 'what age are people starting to dip down'. Going back 10 years ago the age was 35. But now, look at Glover, he's 42. Jan Blachowicz, 39. So we've got older athletes in our division," Craig continued.
"There are only two things that can make a man change his mind, the smell of gold and women. Having a strong woman in my corner, she's had the conversation with me about retirement.
"I think with the smell of gold and having people telling you [retirement] is the wrong decision would definitely change my mind. I believe I'm so close to getting the gold, two wins and I'm in the title mix. They're putting my name in that hat."
