UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson may just be the greatest champion in mixed martial arts (MMA) history.
Johnson hasn't lost in MMA competition since his last appearance at bantamweight when he was defeated by former 135-pound champ Dominick Cruz via unanimous decision. His flyweight debut saw him go to a draw in the 125-pound championship tournament. Since then, he has won the flyweight title and has won 12 straight Octagon appearances, including a record 10 successful title defenses.
He has the opportunity to break Anderson Silva's title defense record with his 11th defense against Ray Borg this weekend (Sat. September 9, 2017) in the main event of the UFC 215 pay-per-view (PPV).
Before the fight with Borg was scheduled, many fans called for Johnson to defend his title against former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, but that was met with a bit of reluctance on Johnson's end. UFC President Dana White grew angry with Johnson for refusing to take the fight, but the pair later reconciled their differences.
Many fans have been calling for Johnson to make the jump up to bantamweight to better test himself against competition in another weight class, seeing how he has essentially cleaned out the 125-pound division already.
"Mighty Mouse" was recently asked about this on a media call to promote UFC 215 and stated that he has no plans on jumping up in weight anytime soon (quotes via LowKickMMA):
"Everybody keeps throwing my name out of their mouth,” Johnson said. “And for me, I’m just focused on doing what I do best and cleaning out my division. But everybody in the UFC, everybody in the world, they say, ‘He’s the most boring fighter.
"He doesn’t sell any pay-per-views.’ But everyone keeps wanting to fight me. I don’t understand why they keep saying that.
“That makes me happy that everybody keeps bring up my name. If that was to happen, we’ll all sit down like men and negotiate, whether that would be at 125 or 135, whose title is defended. … It’s all about negotiating.
“A friend of mine said, ‘You know, 10, that’s attainable. Eleven, that’s attainable.’ He goes, ’15 is (expletive) legendary. Why don’t you just go for 15?’ You know what? Why not?” Johnson said. “I mean, I’m 31 years old. I feel good.
"You’ve got a lot of new, young, up-and-coming guys coming into the division. So why not keep on doing it as long as I can? It’s not like 135 is going anywhere.
“When I get to 35, 36, 37 years old, when I’m tired of dieting … then I’ll go to 135. Right now I’m focused on setting the record as high as I can. And then if the money is right, we can go up to 135 and let’s make it happen.”
What are your thoughts on Johnson's comments regarding a jump up to 135 pounds? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
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