• UFC 138

Ross Pearson 'thought about' stepping in for Taylor

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Ross Pearson has revealed that he strongly considered stepping in as a replacement to fight Anthony Njokuani at UFC 138 this weekend.

Pearson is currently heavily involved in PR duties during the UFC's visit to Birmingham, but he took time out on Wednesday to speak to the ESPN UFC Podcast.

UFC 138 lost one of its major fights on Tuesday when Paul Taylor was involved in a car accident, forcing him to withdraw from the November 5 card. As a result, Njokuani has been left without an opponent with three days' notice.

Pearson has been experimenting with a weight cut to featherweight, and will make his 145lb debut against Junior Assuncao at the end of the year. However, the fighting bug almost tempted him into a potential trap against the dangerous Njokuani, who has already finished the UFC career of Pearson's team-mate Andre Winner.

"Being around the fight scene, I love being around the whole energy. Honestly, I thought about it," Pearson said of replacing Taylor. "I thought about going down to Dana [White] and saying, 'I'll do it'.

"But Anthony Njokuani is no slouch, this guy's a tough guy. If I was to fight Anthony, I'd need a proper camp. It would be stupid on my part to take the fight at four days' notice and fight a seriously skilled fighter.

"Is it worth the risk of getting a silly loss on my record, having fans start doubting me, having a lot of bad press about me? A lot of fans would say, 'Yeah, he stepped up to the mark' but career-wise it wouldn't be a good idea."

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