UFC's George Roop: 'I Feel Like I Can Dominate the Featherweight Division'

As it stands, featherweight champion Jose Aldo is the only current UFC title holder without a definitive challenger on the horizon.

Initially, Zuffa planned to promote a bout between Aldo and Canadian kickboxer Mark Hominick at UFC 125, but an injury forced Hominick off the card.

Josh Grispi was set to take Hominick’s place, but when Aldo himself suffered an injury, the title fight was scrapped altogether.

Opting not to wait for Aldo to heal up, Grispi still fought on the card and lost to replacement fighter Dustin Poirier.

Poirier, while immensely impressive in his performance, likely still needs one or two more wins before competing for the title. His domination over Grispi, however, has created somewhat of a difficult scenario for the featherweight title picture.

Nevertheless, many pundits believe that Aldo’s next opponent will be determined in either of the following two matchups: Mark Hominick vs. George Roop at UFC Fight Night 23 or Chad Mendes vs. Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 126.

On a recent episode of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Roop agreed that a win over Hominick would put him in title contention. He also doesn’t think it would be set in stone just yet.

“I don’t ever think there is any kind of guarantee but I know Hominick was offered to fight Aldo on the New Year’s card so in my eyes he is the number one contender right now,” Roop told Mitch Ciccarelli and guest co-host Bryan Levick on Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun Radio.

“So putting him away would definitely put me next in line but I definitely don’t think it guarantees me anything.”

For Roop, this is his first fight back in the UFC since a submission loss to top contender George Sotiropoulos at UFC 101. That fight along with Roop’s other two UFC bouts were contested at lightweight, above his natural weight.

Since dropping down to 145 pounds, Roop has gone 1-1, but realistically he should be unbeaten. He clearly outpointed Leonard Garcia at WEC 47, but an unfortunate point deduction ruled the fight a draw.

At WEC 51, Roop cemented himself as a potential title threat with a vicious head kick knockout over “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.

Despite the win, Roop is still viewed as an underdog heading into UFC Fight Night 23. Hominick is considered a far superior striker but Roop believes that his long reach will play a factor in the fight.

“I think I’m going to have a lot of success standing up with him but this is also mixed martial arts and he’s very good on the ground too,” Roop said.

“He has a very tricky guard and he likes to go from sweeps to submissions and vice versa. He’s definitely not just a striker, he’s a very complete mixed martial artist and I’m going to feel comfortable wherever the fight goes.”

As for the fans counting him out, Roop isn’t bothered by it. In fact, he has grown accustomed to it.

“I wasn’t supposed to beat Leonard Garcia and, in my opinion, I did beat Leonard Garcia. I was supposed to lose to Chan Sung Jung, he wasn’t supposed to get knocked out but look what happened,” Roop said.

“With Mark Hominick it’s kind of the same deal, I’m playing the underdog role here too. I’m not supposed to beat Hominick but in two weeks from now we’re going to see how that plays out.”

Nothing is certain, of course, but if a win over Hominick would earn Roop a title shot he is confident in his abilities to dethrone the current champion.

“I think I would be a great matchup for Jose Aldo being that I’m 6’1" and I’m fighting at my natural weight class now. I feel like I can dominate the 145-pound division,” Roop said.

“I don’t want to sound cocky or come off cocky because I know how bad of a man Jose Aldo is and I know what people think of him too but every man is beatable.

“I proved against the Korean Zombie that any man can be finished, everyone is human.”

To hear Roop go more in depth on his matchup with Hominick and several other topics—including a two-man crusade against the cast of Jersey Shore, Justin Bieber, The Jonas Brothers and David Spade—listen to the interview in its entirety at the link below.

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Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. A staff writer for Heavy MMA, featured columnist for B/R and host of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Ciccarelli is also a future United States Airman beginning basic training this March. He is also engaged to Eva Mendes and Jessica Simpson. Follow Ciccarelli on twitter, unless you have herpes.   @MitchCiccarelli