While UFC middleweight Brad Tavares has an important fight with Lorenz Larkin just around the corner at UFC Fight Night 35, the Hawaiian has another 185-pound fighter on his mind.

As Tavares continues to climb the ranks in the middleweight division, there’s one fighter near the top who he thinks should not be there.

“I really want to fight Francis Carmont because out of everybody, I don’t think he deserves to be where he is,” Tavares told MMAjunkie. “I’m not one to even care about that, but I feel like he lost straight up to Larkin. And it was close, his fight with [Tom] Lawlor, but I had Lawlor winning that fight.

“I just feel like he’s lost, but he still gets these opportunities. He’s still in the top 10.”

With Tavares having won four-straight fights inside the octagon and Carmont on a six-fight UFC winning streak, it’s possible the two middleweights could be on a collision course in the not-too-distant future.

On paper, it may seem Carmont has a grinding style that could give trouble to Tavares, whose one career loss came as a result of being outgrappled by standout wrestler Aaron SImpson.

But Tavares is confident Carmont wouldn’t be able to impose his will like he has against previous opponents, though, and thinks that would have a drastic impact on how the fight would play out.

“You would think I wouldn’t want to fight that, but I think I’ll stuff him,” Tavares said. “He wouldn’t be able to take me down and lay on me like he does. Not to say that I don’t like the guy, but yeah.”

Although a potential fight against Carmont (22-7 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is on Tavares’ (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) radar, he knows the matchup is unlikely to take place without a win over Larkin (14-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at Wednesday’s event, which takes place at Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. The main card, with Tavares-Larkin in the co-main event, airs on FOX Sports 1 with preliminary card action on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

“He’s an exciting striker — most of his fights, that’s what he wants to do,” Tavares said. “That’s the type of fighter I am, so I think it’s going to be a great fight.”

While some may view Tavares looking ahead to a future showdown with Carmont as disrespectful to his current opponent, the 26-year-old wants to make it clear his sole focus remains on Larkin.

He is just confident in himself and wants Carmont’s spot on the rankings.

“I feel like I belong in the top 10 of this division,” Tavares said. “I truly believe in myself. It’s not being cocky or arrogant or anything, I just truly believe in myself and I believe I can beat any of them out there.

“As soon as they give me the opportunity, I’ll show them what I’m talking about.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 35, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.