John Dodson: Demetrious Johnson Needs To “Pop”

Demetrious Johnson is arguably one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, despite that, the flyweight division is often overlooked by many fans.

Top ranked UFC flyweight, John Dodson, believes that is because Johnson needs to promote his fights better.

He explained to MMAFighting:

“Demetrious Johnson is doing something that a lot of people should be doing, just backing it up by fighting. He’s showcasing his ability to be a true champion by being able to finish by strikes, submissions, or a winning decision without squeaking by anybody. With that being said, him not being able to pop kind of ruins it for all of us. That’s why we all need to step up as athletes and start doing it ourselves. If the division wants to have some limelight, then we need to start having some other fighters who can present that opportunity. It doesn’t matter if we’re a champion or not.”

“It kinda is hard to watch because if he’s not promoting — being a champion you have to essentially be the president of our division. Like, you have to sit there and be in front of people and popping and showing everybody a different side of us that will [draw] people into it. Like Anthony Pettis went out and became a Wheaties box champion but nobody ever cared about that. They have Donald Cerrone, who’s consistently fighting and has a Budweiser sponsorship, going out to Daytona. People are more excited for Donald Cerrone to go duck hunting and go see something else rather than having Anthony Pettis being on a box of Wheaties. It just shows you that it’s us, as individual flyweights, that we need to do something differently rather than complain about the person who’s holding the title. If we wind up waiting for that title to change, then we’re [not doing our jobs] anyways.”