Duane Ludwig Confident in Preparation of ‘Fascinating’ TJ Dillashaw vs Demetrious Johnson Fight

With the insane year that we’ve had in combat sports, it’s easy to forget that Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson and TJ Dillashaw seem to actually be headed towards one of the biggest fights in UFC history. Dana White said it was happening after UFC 218, while Johnson himself even said the only thing preventing it would be money at this point. Either way, Dillashaw is already training hard for the long, 10-pound trip down to flyweight. Duane Ludwig recently was interviewed and is confident that they will have the upper hand in the superfight.

“I’ve already [spent time studying Demetrious Johnson]. There’s already notes and footage of game plans. I’ve dedicated my life to martial arts since the age of eight, this is what I do for 31 years. It’s very fascinating and super fun for me to do this and it’s already done and I’ll continue to do more of it but Demetrious Johnson has already been broken down and we feel that we have the upper hand in that fight. That’s for sure.”

On the heels of Dana White announcing TJ vs DJ next, TJ Dillashaw is bringing his body weight down over a 20 week period and trying to lose 6.4lbs of muscle to make Flyweight. pic.twitter.com/KT4NSTYXjx

— Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) December 4, 2017

“I’m not a strength and conditioning coach or a nutritionist, but who we have guiding him in that direction is Sam Calavitta and I believe and trust in that guy because of the results he put TJ through the first Cody [Garbrandt] camp and then when we were going to fight Demetrious, the transformation his body was taking in that route and then to move it back to 135 when the Cody fight came back because Demetrious wouldn’t fight him the first time. Cause when he goes through the dieting and the nutrition and then I feel the end result in the sparring, watching him in the sparring, on the pads or having him in my class, I see how his diet and nutrition is affecting his performance.” — Duane Ludwig speaking to the Fight Society podcast via MMA NYTT.

Not only is this a war between the UFC bantamweight and the UFC flyweight champion, but a clash of two incredible MMA coaches in Ludwig and Matt Hume. Both Dillashaw and Johnson are in their primes and at the top of their game in respective divisions. A bout between the two could be the most high level display ever seen in mixed martial arts. If everything so far isn’t proof that TJ Dillashaw is taking this extremely seriously, he’s also been sparring with multiple time K-1 World Grand Prix champion and RIZIN fighter Takeru.

今日も一日トレーニング終了
TJもラドウィック会長も
海外から来た入門したての選手に
本気で向き合ってくれて
自分達の大切な技術を教えてくれる。
言葉を全部は理解出来ないけど
出来る限り吸収して強くなって恩返しする！#rudwigmartialarts #感謝 pic.twitter.com/4vFMI4kkbv

— 武尊 takeru (@takerusegawa) December 19, 2017

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 12/19/2017.