Demetrious Johnson may have moved on from the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division he once dominated, but he’s still a keen observer of what’s happening there, and still wary of “superfights.”
After bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw’s failed experiment in dropping down in weight to challenge Henry Cejudo for the UFC flyweight title, the question remains of where Dillashaw’s next fight will be, and against whom.
Former UFC flyweight king and current One Championship fighter Demetrious Johnson, who was strongly linked to his own superfight against Dillashaw before losing his title to Cejudo, believes the bantamweight champ should stay in his natural 135-pound weight class and defend against Brazilian contender Marlon Moraes (transcribed by MMANews.com):
“In my personal opinion, if I were to say what would be the best thing to happen, if T.J. went off and defended the belt against Marlon Moraes, who’s the No. 1 contender in my personal opinion, and then Henry Cejudo can go defend his belt,” Johnson told Helen Yee Sports.
“Mighty Mouse” believes the term “superfight” gets thrown around too much and prevents the division from moving on.
“Because a lot of these champ-champ and double champ and all that stuff, it kind of holds the division” Johnson said. “When I’m sitting by watching it, I’m ready to see Marlon Moraes get his chance.”
Johnson likes the idea of champion vs. champion matchups, but only if both men have cleared out their respective divisions.
“I think when there’s absolutely nobody for those two to compete against, that’s when you do superfights.”