Hatsu Hioki watches title hopes disappear as he drops fight to Ricardo Lamas

When asked by the UFC to fight Jose Aldo for the title, featherweight Hatsu Hioki said he wasn't quite ready for it yet. Now, a chance at the belt is much further away after he dropped a decision to Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FX 4.

Hioki started strong, twisting Lamas into an omoplata in the first round. But Lamas survived to get the best of Hioki on the ground and in stand-up. Every judge in Atlantic City saw it 29-28 for Lamas.

With this loss, Hioki showed the danger of passing on title shots. If he took a fight with Aldo before he was ready, he wouldn't have been confident in the cage. However, in taking a tune-up fight, he showed he wasn't ready for Aldo in the first place. Now, he'll have to work his way back to the top levels of the UFC's featherweight division to even get a whiff of the championship.