Demetrious Johnson discusses possibility of moving up in weight

UFC flyweight champion, and pound for pound kingpin, Demetrious Johnson is undoubtably one of the most dominant champions in the history of the UFC.

Since winning the UFC flyweight championship in 2012, Johnson has gone on a tear of the flyweight division, defending his title eight times in the span of four years, and all but clearing out the flyweight division as he has dispatched of every top contender the UFC has put in front of him.

Tonight, in Las Vegas, Johnson will face the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions, Tim Elliot, where he will look to make it nine straight title defenses, and extend his win streak to ten.

This year, there has been talk of Johnson potentially moving up to bantamweight for a superfight with Dominick Cruz, however the way Johnson sees it, there may not be any reason for him to make the jump up in weight unnecessarily.

He spoke to MMAJunkie:

“I don’t know,” Johnson told MMAjunkie. “I don’t really keep track of how many title defense I have. I just don’t. The only time people talk about it is when you just mention it. I’m not at home like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got eight. That’s what’s up.’ I’m just at home doing my thing.

“But for me, obviously it’s beating that record, and then after that I’ll decide what I want to do. If the money is right, or if I’m like, ‘I don’t feel like taking more damage in my career’ – I only get one brain and one body, so I’m like, ‘Why don’t I just stay here and keep just wrecking house if I’m able to do that?’”

This season of The Ultimate Fighter was certainly a different one, with every fighter on the show being a champion of another promotion, and the winner, Tim Elliot, earning themselves a UFC title fight.

Johnson weighed-in on his opponent, saying:

“Everybody knows what he brings – awkwardness – to mixed martial arts,” Johnson said. “He’s fought the best of the best of the division – (John) Dodson, Joseph (Benavidez), Ali Bagautinov. So you know, (I’m) just going out there and fighting and seeing what he wants to do and take it to him.”