EXCLUSIVE | Duane Ludwig reveals his ideal backup plan for TJ Dillashaw if “Mighty Mouse” fight falls through

Right now, one of the most talked about fights in the MMA bubble is a potential flyweight title fight between dominant divisional champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, and a slimmed-down version of UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.

While this fight seems to interest pretty much everybody with a pulse, the negotiations for it seem to be stuck in the mud. Both men still want the fight, which means there’s still plenty of reason to believe it’ll happen, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be announced any time soon.

Dillashaw’s coach Duane Ludwig isn’t really sure what the holdup is in terms of negotiations for this fight.

“[The] holdup is probably dates and money, I’m assuming,” Ludwig said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I really don’t know what the hold up is, because I’m not in on those meetings and I don’t really want to be. I have focused my efforts on the actual martial arts aspect, of improving TJ and his martial arts in general. I’m teaching him and finding out, again, what actually works. But the business side, I try to let them figure that out on their own.”

Whatever has caused the standstill in negotiations for this fight, Ludwig believes there’s a pretty solid backup plan available. Should this Dillashaw vs. Johnson superfight plan fall through, he’d like to see Dillashaw rematch the last man he lost to: former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Cruz defeated Dillashaw with a narrow and controversial decision in January of 2016.

“What’s Cruz’s situation, now?,” Ludwig queried on the show. “For me, personally, I would like to see that [rematch]. So Demetrious, and then – or – Cruz.”

If TJ Dillashaw’s desired showdown with Mighty Mouse doesn’t work out, would you be interested in a rematch between him and Dominick Cruz? Make your opinions heard in the comments section below!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/22/2018.