NEW YORK – Roxanne Modafferi would, understandably, “absolutely love” to fight the winner of the upcoming flyweight title matchup between Valentina Shevchenko and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

There are some lines, however, that the ever-playful “Roxy” Modafferi (22-14 MMA, 1-2 UFC) still isn’t quite ready to cross in order to secure a title shot in the event of an emphatic win over Sijara Eubanks (3-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 230.

“I’m not going to take off my shirt and say my boobs was hot, but I certainly hope I get the opportunity” Modafferi told MMAjunkie with a laugh during a media day ahead of the FS1-televised preliminary card flyweight bout. “Maybe I should. Let’s take a vote on Twitter.”

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, Modafferi’s joke was a reference to heavyweight Derrick Lewis, who followed up a recent heroic effort over Alexander Volkov with a memorable post-fight speech in which he told Joe Rogan that he’d removed his shorts because “my balls was hot.”

The fact that Lewis is on a three-fight winning streak and has won nine out of his past 10 bouts probably had something to do with it, as well, but fact is that Lewis is now in a position to claim the UFC’s heavyweight title, which he’ll try to take from champ Daniel Cormier in UFC 230’s headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Jokes aside, Modafferi’s hopes aren’t crazy. Although she is 1-1 since her return to the UFC, including a loss to later-stripped champ Nicco Montano in the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter 26,” Modafferi is in a good spot in a still-developing division. Not only is “Roxy” coming off a win, over Barb Honchak, but she’s also fighting an opponent who was herself briefly believed to be headed toward a title shot.

“Sarj,” as we know, was expected to face Shevchenko for the vacant title on Saturday, before that bout was scrapped in favor of a UFC 231 booking between Shevchenko and former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Eubanks was also the original “TUF 26” finalist, having beaten Modafferi in the semifinals, but had to give up her spot after a botched weight cut landed her in the hospital.

“Sarj” would go on to recover with a unanimous-decision win over Lauren Murphy, before being slated to meet Shevchenko at UFC 230. The news that this title bout would serve as UFC 230’s headliner wasn’t exactly well-received, but “Sarj” also got some sympathy due to the way a title shot was given and taken away.

“Roxy” was one of those people who sympathized.

“I wasn’t very fond of Valentina vs. Joanna, simply because Joanna hasn’t fought in the flyweight division yet,” Modafferi said. “If she had, I think I wouldn’t have had too much of a problem. But, then again, I’m not the matchmaker, I don’t get paid to decide these things.

“So when Sijara got the fight, I felt like, ‘Good, good for her. She earned it, she proved she can make weight.’ And then that got taken away from her, I was like, ‘Oh, man, that sucks for her.’”

“However it came about,” though, Modafferi is ultimately happy she got the opportunity to rematch Eubanks on Saturday.

Things have changed a bit from their first meeting – which ended with a unanimous-decision win for Eubanks. Rather than meeting at the The Ultimate Fighter gym, the two get to perform at Madison Square Garden. Modafferi is also now at Syndicate MMA, backed by a man whom she sees as the “best coach in the world” in John Wood.

Different stage, different circumstances – and, hopefully for Modafferi, different outcome.

“A big part of me as a martial artist is showing my improvement,” Modafferi said. “It’s been about a year-and-a-half since we last fought, and I know I’ve made great leaps and bounds in technique and my strength training, also. This fight is not going to go the way it did before, where she took me down and I couldn’t get up. It’s going to be way different, and I’m going to come out with the win.”

To hear more from Modafferi, check out the video above.

And for the latest on UFC 230, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.