UFC News: Cody Stamann shares his thoughts about fighting his latest opponent

Cody Stamann made it clear after his previous fight that he wants to fight a top-ranked MMA fighter next. But as of now, his wish is not being fulfilled.

At UFC on ESPN 7, Stamann will be going up against Song Yadong, who is ranked 13th in the Bantamweight list of the promotion. In this week's pre-fight teleconference, Stamann shared his thoughts about the matter.

Stamann sees Yadong as a stepping stone

In the teleconference ahead of UFC D.C., Stamann inevitably faced the question if he was happy with the opponent that he got.

The question was - "After your last fight, you said you wanted to call out a top ten guy. Are you satisfied with the decision of your opponent, and why or why not?"

Stamann explained that although he would have preferred someone who is higher ranked, but he is pretty content having to fight Yadong. According to him, the 22-year-old Chinese fighter is a big enough name, and defeating him would be a significant step forward to achieve his goal.

“I would have much rather had a higher ranked opponent, but Song Yadong has a lot of hype behind him. A lot of people see him as another contender. I've been in positions like this before with guys where I'm coming in as the underdog. That does nothing but help boost my name. I think he's a legitimate name in MMA, so beating him will be another step towards my ultimate goal of being the best.”

Stamann is riding on a victory over Alejandro Perez at UFC 235, which helped him bounce off the only loss of his UFC career against Aljamain Sterling.

The fight will take place on December 7, Saturday at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.