Tim Means (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

After knocking out John Howard and pushing his UFC record as a welterweight to 5-2, Tim Means is optimistic he’ll face a top ranked contender in his next outing.

Means faced Howard at UFC Fight Night 80 on December 10th, and finished the vet with a crushing left hook in the second round. The victory earned Means a “Performance of the Night” award, and returned him to the win column, after his thrilling, submission loss to Matt Brown in July.

Recently Means appeared on Full Contact Fighter Radio, and when asked if he believes he’ll be tapped to fight a top 15 opponent next, “The Dirty Bird” stated:

“I definitely think the ball is rolling to get a big time fight again,” said Means. “I had my moments to win the Brown fight and I think the bosses and the UFC brass saw that. Even after this last fight while I was doing interviews, Dana White came and found me and in the interview, he said ‘hey, stick around, you’re in the press conference’. So right away I knew that I received a bonus.”

“Those guys like my style,” added Means, who has recorded finishes in his last three victories. “They’ve treated me really well. It’s kind of hard to hear that Sage Northcutt got paid 40 grand and 40 grand, over some of us guys that have really put in a lot of time, but, it is what it is. You win the fights and better things come. That’s always been something that I do is I work my way through the rough roads to get to the easier roads. I’m just happy to still be able to do something I love to do…”

It remains to be seen who Means might face next, and whether the UFC will in fact look to match him up against a top 15 ranked welterweight. Means was asked about the possibility of facing Thiago Alves, however, who is ranked #15 and recently had to withdraw from a scheduled bout with Benson Henderson due to injury.

“Oh ya. That’s easy money right there,” said Means. “They want to put that fight in front of me, absolutely. I think the thing with him is that he needs to be healthy to get to the fight you know? I think Alves is exactly Howard. It’s not a fight that I would shy away from. It’s a fight that we would accept in a heartbeat, but it would come down to if he could stay healthy you know?”

With Means’ most recent win, the 31 year-old fighter moved his record to 25-7-1.