After UFC 178, Demetrious Johnson Wants To Take The Rest Of 2014 Off
Demetrious Johnson is arguably one of the UFC’s top pound for pound fighters. The flyweight champion has just one loss to his name during his time with the UFC.
After UFC 174 where Mighty Mouse defeated Ali Bagautinov via a unanimous decision, the champ wanted to take some time to recuperate, however the UFC had different plans for their champion, whom they wanted to fight again just two months later at UFC 177.
Mighty Mouse recalls the conversation to MMAJunkie.
“Uhhh, that’s a six week camp, and I’ve been turned up in Vegas…all right, let’s make it happen.”
Diving headfirst right into another training camp didn’t come without its hardships for the 125-pound kingpin.
“The stress was on me again; (coach) Matt (Hume) was barking out orders. In my mind, I was like, ‘Ah, I’m not ready to hear this s–t again.’ Every once in a while, you need to come into the gym and have fun and enjoy it. When you prepare for a fight, a lot of stress goes on me, but sometimes I don’t think about it, because I handle stress very well.”
“I’m looking forward to fighting in January or February, because I want to get my snowboarding in. If I fight in Feburary, that gives me time to do some snowboarding and enjoying life in wintertime.”
“I don’t look (at it like) if I beat Cariaso, I clean out the division. Honestly, I just pick up the phone when the UFC gives me an assignment, and when the UFC gives me an assignment, I go out there and execute my game plan. If people in the public and the media want to say I’ve cleaned out the division, that’s for them to say, but for me, it’s just another fight.
“There’s a lot of fighters left in the flyweight division that I haven’t fought yet, and my focus is there. Obviously, if (UFC President) Dana White came to me and said, ‘We’re hurting for a mega fight, would you go up and take on the 135-pound champion?,’ whoever that is when the time comes, and I am still champ at the same time, I’m pretty sure me and the bantamweight champion want to make some cheddar when it happens. As long as they’re willing to fork up a bit, and it makes sense for me and my camp, why not?
“I’m in this sport to make some money, not just staying champ and retaining my belt. At the end of the day, it’s about making the most money possible.”
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