Demetrious Johnson will be making his first flyweight title defense later this month when he is challenged by Ultimate Fighter winner John Dodson.
Johnson (16-2-1) became the first ever flyweight champion when he defeated Joseph Benavidez in the final of the flyweight tournament by decision.
He will now headlined his third UFC fight card as he will meet Dodson in the main event of UFC on FOX 6 on January 26th at the United Center in Chicago.
Johnson knows that his opponent is athletic and will come to fight, which he admires.
“He is super athletic and I admire that,” Johnson said in a UFC pre-fight interview. “He has a great sense of style and he likes to go out there and fight.”
Since the fight was announced after Dodson (14-5) defeated Jussier Formiga at UFC on FX 5, all of the talk has been about the speed of both fighters. Even though Dodson has the same type of speed of the champion, this fight will not be all about speed according to Johnson.
“He can have the speed to contend with me, but it’s not all about the speed, that’s not how I win all my fights. It’s not because I’m super fast. I like to think that I’m good fundamentally and I have a good skill set. So he can match me speed-for-speed, but will he be able to match my pressure, my cardio? There’s more aspects than just speed.”
This flyweight title fight has the makings of being an exciting fight because of the way both fighters like to fight. Johnson believes the fight will be exciting for fans to watch, but he expects Dodson to keep the fight standing and not go to the ground.
“I think overall it’s going to be a very exciting fight. But if I had to choose an aspect of it, I think the stand up because he typically doesn’t like to go to the ground and I like to stand up. I like to fight on the ground, I like to fight in the clinch, I can fight anywhere. Two guys going out there and fighting should be exciting in itself.”