Demetrious Johnson Wants Conor McGregor To Defend His Title

Demetrious Johnson Wants Conor McGregor To Defend His Title

Demetrious Johnson reveals who he wants Conor McGregor to fight next and talks Floyd Mayweather vs. the Irish superstar.

Feb 1, 2017 by Jim Edwards
Demetrious Johnson Wants Conor McGregor To Defend His Title
It’s Super Bowl 51 week, and UFC stars are descending upon Houston, Texas, to take in the atmosphere ahead of the big occasion.

One big football fan is the current UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who is in town ahead of the Patriots taking on the Falcons this weekend. Despite being there to enjoy himself this weekend, Johnson took the time to talk to Fox Sports and he began by talking about what it feels like having not been defeated since 2011.

“It doesn’t feel any different, you know?" Johnson said. “It’s just me staying focused with my coaches, Matt Hume, Brad Kertson, everybody at AMC. [I’m just going to] keep on getting better and keep on grinding, you know? Just, hopefully, [I will] keep on winning and set the record.”

With Jon Jones currently on the sidelines, Johnson is currently atop the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings. Johnson described what it feels like to walk around knowing he’s one of the best fighters in the world.

“It feels good,” Johnson said. “You take every inch of my body and you give me that same size as that person, I believe I can beat them with [my] skill set.

“I’ve been in fights where I fight guys who are longer than me, and [I] switch it up by wrestling and using my grappling aspects of mixed martial arts. I've out-struck people, I've out, just, clinched people. I believe I am [the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world].”

With the world at large talking about a potential Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather boxing superfight, Johnson believes the current UFC lightweight champion should instead focus on defending his UFC title and instead take on the numerous challengers lining up for a shot at his 155-pounds belt.

“It might happen,” Johnson said about Mayweather versus McGregor. “For me personally, as a sports fan and a fan of mixed martial arts and combat sports in general, I'd like to see Conor defend his belt.

“I think him being two-weight world champion—he was, then the UFC stripped his 145-pound belt—I’d like to see him defend a belt. What’s the point of you being a champion if you have no desire to defend it? Not that he said he has no desire to defend it, but I’d just like to see him defend it. Defend your belt once."

With his preference clear that he wants McGregor to defend his UFC belt, Johnson had little doubt who he wanted to see the Irishman square off with.

“Fight Khabib Nurmagomedov or the winner of [his fight with] Tony Ferguson,” Johnson said. “Then when they try and find another number-one contender, you can go off and do your boxing thing then you can come back and dabble in both, if he's healthy enough. But for me it’s like, 'Dude, just defend the belt.' I would rather see him fight the winner of Khabib and Tony than him fight [Floyd]. I've watched Floyd fight, and he fights the same every single time.

“I'd rather see him fight Tony [or] Khabib. If I'm going to have to pay for one, I'm going to pay for Tony [or] Khabib [rather] than Floyd. I won't pay for Floyd." 

That said, Johnson shared his thoughts on a potential McGregor vs. Mayweather showdown, and his response was surprisingly optimistic for the Irish superstar.

"I think Conor has a good chance to beat him," Johnson said. "Obviously, Floyd is a master of not getting hit. Also he's always good about fighting southpaws because he's right-handed...I think Conor has a [chance] but I'm going to go ahead and go with Floyd because it's boxing. You get points for blocking."