Coming off an impressive stoppage over Johnny Case that ended his 12-fight winning streak, Jake Matthews made his case as the best young prospect the UFC has on its roster right now. The 21-year-old lightweight is looking for a big match up next, but he isn't interested in facing the much more hyped youngster in Sage Northcutt.

"Yeah look, if the UFC sends me an email and says, Sage Northcutt, this date, then I’ll fight him on that day. But I’d prefer someone who’s higher ranked," Matthews told Submission Radio. "If Sage was still undefeated, then I’d be asking for that fight. But now, the fact that he’s been beaten by, you know, a relative no one, it’s not the fight that it could have been."

"I think all I’d have to gain from the fight with Sage is, you know, a couple of thousand social media followers. Whereas, if he would have won his last fight, then everyone would be saying, you know, he’s a beast, he’s this, he’s that. But now, everyone’s saying the hype train’s over, he’s not as good as everyone thought. So I don’t see the point in fighting him."

"I wanna fight people that are going to push me and that people would think, fans would think, is a good fight. So obviously we’re going to have a look at the rankings and see, just pick someone who’s like maybe ten spots above me and just slowly creep up as we’ve been doing."

"If they asked me, I’d fight Sage, but it’s not something that I’m chasing."

As for how he thinks he matches up against Northcutt, he doesn't think it would be close.

"I don’t think it would be (competitive). I think he’s just sort of bullied his first couple of opponents, and yeah I think I think I’d be too much for him," he said. "I’m a fair bit bigger than him. With all his muscles and that, I’d still be stronger than him."

"I just beat Johnny Case. You know, he hasn’t lost since 2011, 12-fight winning streak, so I can’t see Sage being much," he continued. "He’s still in the UFC though. There’s never an easy fight in the UFC and anything can happen on any given day, but I think I’d have it over him."

Matthews is now 4-1 in the UFC, and seems to show marked improvements each time out. Northcutt, who is over a year younger, has gone 2-1 with the promotion.

When lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196, Matthews also volunteered to step up against Conor McGregor. Listen to the entire interview where he talks about the reason for doing so, and how he stacks against the UFC featherweight champion.