Undefeated bantamweight Mike Wootten extended his record to 9-0 at BAMMA 17 on Dec. 6 with a unanimous decision victory over hardy Frenchman Peter Ligier (4-1) who was handed his first loss at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester.
As a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter Season 18, Wootten is one of the standout contenders among BAMMA’s 135lb ranks, and his presence continues to grow with each impressive showing.
Featured in a recent MMA Plus exclusive, newly crowned Superior Challenge champion Ed Arthur singled out Wootten as the man he aims to face next, and following Wootten’s victory at BAMMA 17, Kingdom MMA’s Connor Hutton sought out a response from the Liverpudlian.
“Ed looks tough, I’ve seen bits of him,” said Wootten. “He looks a difficult opponent; a dangerous opponent, he’s a young up and comer hungry to get further up. Ed Arthur won’t be the only person who wants to fight me, there’ll be a list of other guys that want to fight me and there’s guys I want to fight as well.
“Him calling me out like that – it’s great, it’s a bit of extra publicity for myself, but I’ve spent my last nine weeks focusing on fighting Peter Ligier, I want to take a bit of time off now to regroup my thoughts and then go from there, I’m not jumping into any decisions.”
The prospect of facing Wootten would appeal to any fighter aiming to top the ranks of BAMMA’s bantamweight division, and Arthur (5-0) is one contender making his voice heard. Is Wootten vs. Arthur a fight you’d like to see, or are there better match ups out there for the respective contenders? Let us know in the comments.
