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Jimmie Rivera explains why he wont fight replacement Marlon Vera: I’ll look like a ‘bully’

Jimmie Rivera wants to keep climbing the UFC bantamweight ladder, and that’s why he won’t be fighting at next week’s UFC Fight Night 103.

Just a day after the UFC announced that Rivera would be fighting short-notice replacement opponent Marlon Vera, Rivera took to Twitter on Saturday to announce the fight wasn’t happening. Going from top-5 bantamweight Bryan Caraway, who was Rivera’s original opponent, to an unranked fighter in Vera, just didn’t make sense to Rivera.

“I found out Monday Caraway was out,” Rivera told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. “Didn’t find anyone new until Thursday.