Unbeaten McMillen targets fellow 9-0 Rahiki at Noche UFC: 'This is my time'

Tommy McMillen will put his unbeaten record on the line against fellow 145-pound prospect Marwan Rahiki at Noche UFC 4 on 12 September in Glendale, Arizona, with both fighters arriving at the bout without a professional loss between them.

McMillen carries an 11-0 record into the contest, with 10 of those victories coming by finish. His only decision win arrived in the bout that earned him a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. Now 2-0 inside the octagon and heading into his third UFC appearance, McMillen says the matchup against a dangerous, unbeaten opponent is exactly what he was looking for.

“Yeah, you know I like to fight,” McMillen said. “I want to fight the toughest guys to prove that I’m on a different level.”

Rahiki presents a stern test. The 9-0 prospect has finished every single one of his professional opponents and is also 2-0 in the UFC, making this a genuine clash between two of the division’s most hyped young fighters. McMillen, however, insists his rival’s confidence only sharpens his own motivation.

“This kid’s a prospect, he runs his mouth, he talks a lot and that’s the exact fight that I want to take head-on and just show everybody like I am who I say I am,” McMillen said. “This kid’s another prospect, so I’m gonna go out there and put him down, cash another $100,000 bonus and just show that, you know, this is my time.”

The reference to “another” $100,000 bonus signals that McMillen believes his finishing instincts will translate to performance bonuses at the highest level, as they have throughout his career. With a combined professional record of 20-0 between them, the Noche UFC 4 featherweight bout shapes up as one of the more compelling prospect collisions the UFC has scheduled this year.