Bantamweight contenders all lining up for a shot at Bryan Caraway
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CHICAGO, IL - JULY 25: (L-R) Bryan Caraway punches Eddie Wineland in their bantamweight bout during the UFC event at the United Center on July 25, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Top-10 ranked bantamweight Bryan Caraway seems to be the target for just about every 135-pound contender in the division, but his next fight still hasn't been booked despite efforts from a few different fighters attempting to land the matchup.
Just recently, Urijah Faber revealed in an interview with FOX Sports that he accepted a fight against Caraway as the main event for "The Ultimate Fighter" finale on Dec. 11 in Las Vegas, but Caraway declined the offer.
Faber wasn't sure why Caraway didn't accept the fight, but he moved onto a new matchup against Frankie Saenz at UFC 194 instead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now it seems two more fighters are claiming that Caraway turned down fights with them as well, including highly touted prospect Aljamain Sterling as well as former "Ultimate Fighter" finalist Manny Gamburyan.
Both fighters told UFC Tonight's Ariel Helwani that Caraway declined to fight them despite their best efforts.
According to the report, Gamburyan is getting married in November and wants to return to action as early as Super Bowl weekend in 2016, and he's fired up at the chance to face Caraway in the Octagon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sterling says he's not going to sit around and wait for Caraway to accept the fight and he's turning his attention to a trio of potential opponents for his next bout.
Sterling named Michael MacDonald, Johnny Eduardo or Mitch Gagnon as fights he would be interested in accepting if the UFC offered them.
As for Caraway, he says the timing for the fight with Faber just didn't fit his schedule although he stated that he hoped to book his next bout in late November or early December. Regarding the other two matchups, Caraway claims the UFC never offered him fights with either Sterling or Gamburyan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It remains to be seen who Caraway will draw when he returns to action or when he will fight next after declining the bout on Dec. 11.