Unfinished business.
What’s great about flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is that he’s one of the few candid personalities that gives you an honest opinion of his thoughts on the game. And this recent interview with submission radio was no different. In the interview Demetrius Johnson explains that avenging his 2011 loss against Dominick Cruz was always in the back of his mind and he’s looking forward to the opportunity. To date, this is his only UFC loss. “We’ve always wanted to fight Dominick Cruz again. Not because there was some bad blood or I lost to him – a little bit because I lost to him – but at the same time, he was the uncrowned champ, you know. He had never lost as a champion, they stripped him of his belt from his injury. And I felt that the first fight we had, it was a rough fight for me, but I feel like I gave him his best fight to date, just trying to push him – other than TJ. TJ did an amazing job as well,” The first bout took place at the 135 bantamweight class but Johnson has since dropped down to the 125 lb flyweight class where’s been killing it with 7 consecutive title defenses. When asked about the time frame of when the rematch would take place Demetrius Johnson explains he still has some unfinished business at the 125 lb division. “First things first, I got to make sure I can keep my belt and break Anderson Silva’s title defenses [record],” he explained. “And then after that, when I’ve done that and I have more marketing power and marketability and everyone’s loving me … I’m going to see if I can do it to Dominick Cruz. And by no means will that one be an easy fight. Dominick Cruz is an absolute beast.” It seems Johnson’s also taking a page out of Conor McGregor’s book demanding a $2 million dollar price tag to be attached to attached to any superfight. Though it may seem outrageous to some – this seems to be the way UFC is going where it’s all about the dolla dolla bills. But if you listen to Johnson it all seems quite logical as he gives a very clear and level headed explanation. f the UFC can net-gross 600 million dollars, they can spare two million dollars of that. They wouldn’t even f-cking notice that it’s gone,” he continued. “I value myself at a high level and I think everybody should. I think with all these other fighters fighting out the end of their contracts and seeing what they are worth, it’s good. At the end of the day, it’s about can you pay your bills? We are all athletes and our windows of opportunity to make as much money as possible is short. “So for me to go up to a different weight class and take on the champion … I don’t need to go fight Dominick Cruz. I don’t need to go fight for the 135 pound belt. There’s nothing in my life that says, ‘arghhh, you gotta do it.’ Right now I’m focused on breaking the title defenses [record], putting enough money away for me [so that] after I’m done fighting in mixed martial arts, I can have a smooth transition into my next career and have enough money to where I don’t have to look back like, ‘man, I should have done this and this with my money.’ I want to make sure I’m well taken care of … my mindset is to take care of my family and my kids.” You can’t argue with that. Check out the rest of the Interview below: https://youtu.be/Tg5xdbrH2sY Who do you think wins the rematch? Are Demetrious money demand out of control? Will Anderson Silva be made if he breaks his record and want to fight him next? Chime in with any thoughts or comments below. You can follow us on Fbook, Insta, and Twitter.
