UFC featherweight Ricardo Lamas (13-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) would have texted Dana White about fighting Jose Aldo – if he had the UFC president’s phone number.

Instead, he settled for a tweet. Unfortunately, another person had beaten him to the proverbial punch: Anthony Pettis.

“He stole ‘Knockout of the Night’ from me, and then he had to send that text out,” Lamas today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

“That text” is a message relayed by White during the post-event press conference for UFC 156, which took place this past Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

White said Pettis texted him following the pay-per-view card’s main event, which saw Jose Aldo outpoint ex-lightweight champ Frankie Edgar by scores of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47. Pettis wanted to drop to featherweight to challenge the featherweight champ, who’s now defended his belt four times.

Former WEC champ Pettis kicked an extra check from Lamas’s hands earlier this month when he banked a $50,000 performance bonus for stopping Donald Cerrone in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 6.

Pettis launched a flying knee of the cage that wowed the audience and White, who afterward said it was a forgone conclusion that the Duke Roufus trained fighter would be the next guy to vie for the belt – at lightweight.

But the highlight-reel fight wasn’t the only impressive finish on the fight. One fight prior to Pettis, Lamas bludgeoned Erik Koch for a second-round TKO stoppage. Koch was once scheduled to fight Aldo before an injury put his career on hold, making Lamas the contender apparent to the featherweight champ.

Yet the idea of Pettis vs Aldo was intriguing enough to White that he entertained the idea of instead putting Lamas in a fight with Chan Sung Jung. He clarified that “The Korean Zombie” was injured and could be out until spring, but he appeared open to the prospect of giving another standout lightweight an immediate featherweight title shot.

None of this chatter was encouraging to Lamas, who’s built an four-fight win streak since transitioning from the WEC to the UFC.

“I’m kind of sitting here like, ‘What am I, a mirage?’ That’s exactly what I tweeted Dana White, actually,” Lamas said. “I’m just sitting here trying to figure out where I fit in in all of this.”

Today, Lamas stressed he would wait for Aldo for six months if asked to by the UFC, or he would take the title shot in three months. He also said he would take a main event or co-main event if the promotion decided to skip over him. But that’s clearly not what he thinks is the right thing to do.

At featherweight, he should be first.

“I’ve put in the work at 145 pounds,” Lamas said. “I’ve done everything I need to do, and I should be next in line for that shot.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.