Pietro Menga aiming to upset the odds against Tim Elliott as he makes his long-awaited UFC debut

Interview: The Manchester flyweight has been made to wait for his chance in the UFC, but will make his long-awaited debut when he takes on Tim Elliott this weekend

British flyweight Pietro Menga has finally been handed his UFC debut (Getty)

Manchester flyweight Pietro Menga will make his UFC debut this weekend and has promised an “aggressive free-for-all” against Tim Elliott this weekend, having received the call to face the former title challenger on just 12 days’ notice.

Menga, a 29-year-old from Manchester who boasts a flawless professional record of 13-0, is one of Britain’s most exciting MMA prospects and has been desperately trying to earn his shot in the UFC.

He had personally contacted UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard to ask him to put him on the short-notice list for all upcoming flyweight and bantamweight belts, and had even just made an application to try out for the next series of The Ultimate Fighter, at featherweight.

But just two days after submitting his application Menga finally received the call from the UFC to fight at his favoured weight against Elliott, who came close to stunning flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson when he fought for the title in December last year.

“It just feels like everything is finally coming to fruition and I’m so excited, I’m enjoying the whole process,” Menga told The Independent ahead of UFC Winnipeg, which takes place this weekend. “I’ve got such a big smile on my face and I honestly cannot wait to get in there.

“For such a long time I wasn’t finding a fight in the flyweight division and so I really was considering moving up the weights to get my chance. I’m a flyweight but I really did consider going up and putting my balls on the table with the big boys at 145 [featherweight], just to see what would have happened.

“But it’s ironic, after making my application two days later I finally had this offer from the UFC.”

Short notice fights don’t come much harder than Elliott, a UFC veteran currently in his second tenure with the promotion. Ranked 11^th in the flyweight rankings, he won the 24^th season of The Ultimate Fighter before giving Johnson a serious run for his money at the Tournament of Champions finale.

Elliot is looking to bounce back after a submission defeat to Ben Nguyen in June, but Menga has said he is confident of winning his UFC debut – even if he has only had a matter of days to prepare.

“I’m anticipating a free-for-all and if it goes down like that, it goes down like that,” he said.

Elliott gave Johnson a run for his money late last year (Getty)

“I want to finish him, I want him to come forward and be his usual aggressive self. And ultimately I can only have confidence in my own ability. Because when you take a fight on 12-days’ notice, there is no time for gameplans or anything like that.

“I’m going in there and I’m looking to exploit him at every single opportunity I get, with all of the training I have done over the last 15-20 years. I may not have been through a training camp but my whole journey has been spent preparing for this moment, so I’m more prepared than he could ever be.”

And after fighting Elliott in Winnipeg this weekend, Menga has set his sights on a place in the UFC’s top ten flyweights division having identified what he thinks is the division’s weakness.

“I think the division is still finding its feet, it's still a fairly new division still,” Menga added.

“It's got a couple of guys who are truly elite, a couple of guys who are very hit and miss and then a load of others in a big group. I haven't really looked into it too much, my plan is to keep taking an opponent, beating him, and moving up and moving up.

“All of the other guys winning and losing don't impress me – so I'm not impressed massively with the division.”

Watch UFC Fight Night: Lawler vs. Dos Anjos live on BT Sport 3 from 10pm GMT on Saturday, December 16 or catch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 9pm