Jimmie Rivera: I’m done holding my tongue; I’m better than Cody. He sucks!
Jimmie Rivera: I’m done holding my tongue; I’m better than Cody. He sucks!
It has been a crazy week for UFC Bantamweight Contender Jimmie Rivera! He was scheduled to take on Bryan Caraway, Sunday Night as part of the main card of UFC Fight Night in Phoenix, Arizona on FS1. Due to an injury, initially reported by MMA Junkie, Caraway was forced to pull out of the fight. This was a turn of events that angered the surging bantamweight contender, but didn’t surprise him.
LISTEN TO JIMMIE TALK ON SFLC PODCAST. TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Jimmie comes on to the show around 51:50
“The UFC said to me, how about Bryan Caraway? He’s coming off a win, you’re coming off a win, how about you and Caraway?”, Rivera told the SFLC Podcast. “So I was like ‘You sure he’s going to take the fight? I’m pretty sure he’s not going to take the fight.’ Somehow the UFC forces him to fight, it’s all good. All of a sudden, UFC 207 happens, he sees the new rankings, and then, ‘Oh, my shoulder hurts, I’m not fighting!’ Two weeks before my fight! That Monday I find out at 4:00. I go to my manager, ‘you’re fuc*ing with me right? You’re joking with me?’ No, he’s out. I’m like, what the fu*k? I just trained 2 ½ months for this dude and he’s out! I can’t believe he’s out.”
Rivera (20-1, 4-0 UFC) has also called the legitimacy of the injury, and continues to call the desire to take the fight into question as it relates to his originally scheduled opponent.
“It’s not an injury, he’s (Caraway) faking it, he’s scared! I know he’s scared!” Rivera said. “The UFC was telling me he was scared, ‘there’s no holes in Jimmie Rivera’s game’, obviously there’s no holes in my game. I’m 19-0 at 135, there’s a reason why! His manager doesn’t want it, he doesn’t want the fight, what is this BS? I cant believe it!”
Rivera was then offered a couple of replacement fight options in John Dodson and Marlon Vera. Rivera quickly accepted the bout with Vera, before realizing that he “jumped the gun” before chatting with his coaches.
“I tell my manager, let’s just take it, let’s take the fight (with Vera), let’s go with it. I’ll tell my coach, and it’s my fault at the end of the day because I jumped the gun and I didn’t speak to my coach about it.” Rivera said.
“My coach says, ‘why you want to fight him, what do you have to gain from either these two fights? Are they going to move you up in rank?’ No. ‘Are they going to help you at all to get a title shot?’ No! ‘So you’re looking for an easy pay day?’ I don’t need an easy pay day, I want the tough fights. He said ‘this is not going to help you at all, it’s just a pay day.’ Either fighting a guy who lost his last fight, or fighting someone that’s ranked 40-something and is win some lose some, it does nothing for me. I apologize to the UFC for jumping the gun, but blame Caraway! He’s the one who pulled out of the fight! I should’ve never took the fight with Caraway. I should’ve known he was going to do something to get out of that fight, he was looking at any way to get out of that fight. He made me train for 2 months to get out of that fight. Let me see that doctor, I want to see that MRI that his shoulder is torn, let me see that Sh*t! I’ve fought through tears, he’s a fuc*in pussy at the end of the day.”
“If I took the fight with Dodson,” Rivera continued, “he’ll say,‘well, I only had two weeks notice’, he’d make excuses and he’d want to fight me again. I don’t want to prolong fighting for the belt. I want to fight for the belt! And mostly he’s a (1)25er, never made it at 25, he lost at 25, he jumps back up to 35, but who has he beat at 35? I know you’ll say T.J. (Dillashaw) but that was 5 years ago, so I don’t know if it counts because TJ is way better than him (now). If it would’ve propelled me forward then hell yeah! But it didn’t propel me forward at all, wouldn’t have helped me at all.”
The Bantamweight Division was at the forefront of last month’s UFC 207 event, where T.J. Dillashaw dominated John Lineker in a 3 Round Unanimous Decision, while Cody Garbrandt handed Dominick Cruz his first defeat in nearly a decade, while becoming the UFC Bantamweight Champion. In many people’s eyes, a Garbrandt title defense against Dillashaw makes the most sense. Not to Jimmie Rivera!
“So now I’m sitting here, looking at it and I’m like, ‘you gotta be shitting me!,” Rivera said about the UFC Bantamweight Division.
“You got freaking Cody Garbrandt who beat Cruz, and Cruz beat Dillashaw! It’s a trifecta, and now they want to go all the way around and now they want Dillashaw to fight Cody? Listen, I trained with Dillashaw two years ago, I have film on it when I was sparring and grappling with him, and I beat the sh*t out of him! I don’t need to fight Dillasahw, I need to fight Cody! I don’t need to fight Cruz, I need to fight Cody! I already took out Beta-Male’s Coach. I already took out Urijah Faber. Cruz, it’d be a walk in the park! He can’t box, he tries to use his punches to set up take downs, he’s not going to take me down and I’m a better boxer then him, and I’m going to kick his ass. Dillashaw, I already whooped his ass in training! I already beat two beta males. The last ones Cody, I already took out their coach, it’s time to take out Cody! Cody thinks he’s good, and that’s fine, he can think he’s good, but I’m great! I’m a better boxer, better kickboxer, better wrestler and I’m a better grappler then him. He’s 11-0 I’m 19-0!(at 135 lbs). Had tougher fights then Cody has. Cody’s toughest fight is with Cruz, that’s his toughest fight! You’re telling me that I don’t deserve someone that’s better? That I deserve Cruz or Dillashaw? No! I deserve Cody!”
“He fought Marucs Brimage, took him three rounds to knock him out,” Rivera continued. “It took me 90 seconds to knock him out. It’s my time, I’m ready, I deserve Cody, let’s do it, let’s get it going. He hasn’t answered me on Twitter, TJ hasn’t answered me on Twitter, Cruz hasn’t answered me on Twitter. And I know why, they’re scared! I’m that dark horse that’s coming in who’s always been a quiet, humble fighter, and hasn’t said much…I’m different now! I’m tired of holding my tongue! I’m better than Cody, he sucks, and I’m going to beat him and take that strap from him.”
With the divisional meritocracy looking the way that it does right now, between Cruz reportedly taking some time off, Lineker suffering a broken jaw, Rafael Assuncao scheduled to take on Aljamain Sterling later this month, the only fighter in the UFC Bantamweight rankings above Rivera, outside of the new champion and potential #1 contender, is Bryan Caraway. Would Rivera sign the dotted line for that fight once again if it was offered?
“Fu*k That!,” Rivera said. “That’d be the 4th time he would pull out of it! I want someone better then him. Like I said, I deserve Cody. I work my ass off, I don’t ask for anything! Keep me going, keep me busy, keep propelling me forward. That’s all I ask. I’m hoping that the UFC can see it. I’m 19-0, I worked my ass off. Cody can step up the plate, stop being scared and start answering my tweets and get ready to fight. He’s talking about this Aldo sh*t, get the fu*k back down to 135 lbs, defend your belt, let me kick your ass, then you can fight Aldo after! The only fight that makes sense to me is the Cody fight!”
“If they want to do the Dillashaw-Cody drama bull sh*t, that’s fine,” Rivera continued. “I’ll fight the winner. I’ll go retire Cruz like I retired Faber, then I’ll go fight whoever wins and take the belt from the winner of that soap opera drama! It’s my time. I retired a legend, I can retire another legend, or they can give me the title shot, ill retire Cody, then ill retire Cruz, then retire Dillashaw, and I’m fine with that.”
It’s safe to say that Jimmie Rivera is no longer going to keep his mouth shut. He is making noise from an audio sense, from a social media sense, and hoping to do so throughout 2017 from a competitive sense. Rivera wants the tough fights, and he’s not going to wait for them to come to him. He has laid down the gauntlet to the top 2 contenders in the rankings, and the reigning world champion of the UFC Bantamweight Division.
“Cody, stop being a little bitch and start answering my tweets!”
