Demetrious Johnson isn’t one to get hung up on labels.
While in the midst of his dominant reign atop the UFC’s flyweight division, Mighty Mouse has gained solid recognition across the mixed martial arts landscape as being one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best in addition to being heralded as the fastest fighter on the planet. Naturally, that caliber of praise is going to come when a fighter goes on a six-fight winning streak and leaves a collection of top-ranked talent wrecked in his wake, but circumstantial descriptors are not what Johnson chooses to focus on.
The 28-year-old Washington native’s sole focus rests on his personal progress as a mixed martial artist. Granted, being the champion of the 125-pound division is a position he covets, but a title is nothing to rest on in his world. He’s on a constant pursuit of improvement, and his commitment to those endeavors has been especially visible in his past four outings.
Since edging out Joseph Benavidez via split decision to earn the inaugural flyweight title, the Matt Hume-trained fighter has shifted gears and elevated his game in every showing since. He’s stepped into the Octagon on four occasions since winning the title, and with every bout he has put a more dangerous version of himself on display. Whereas some fighters have fallen victim to complacency once they’ve obtained the label of champion, Johnson resides at the opposite end of the spectrum.
The speedy flyweight king is hungrier than ever because he’s not chasing down a pedestal to be placed upon. Rather, Johnson is continuously looking to find new physical limits and push his talents to new levels.
“My personal progress is huge to me,” Johnson told Bleacher Report. “It means I’m getting better and I’m not wasting my coach’s time in the gym. It makes me happy that people think I keep showing new things because I believe I am as well. I’m always showing that I’m a very versatile champion and I’m not just good at one thing. When people prepare to fight me, they have to figure out how to solve a puzzle.
“If they come in trying to hold me down, then they have to get in close and deal with my clinch game. If they come in with the game plan to try and knock me out, they have to deal with my wrestling and speed. I like that the puzzle my opponents have to figure out in order to beat me is becoming more difficult to solve with every fight.
“I look at the one fight in front of me because that is the only thing I can control,” he added. “People talk about legacy and things like that, but my focus is always on what is directly ahead. When I try to look deeper into things, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to leave behind for a legacy, or if I’m even supposed to leave one. For me, I keep my mind focused on the fight in front of me because that is the only one that matters.”
For as dominant as Johnson has been over the past two years, being perched on the divisional throne means there is a constant target on his back. He is the fighter every flyweight on the planet is aiming to derail, and the next eager challenger is rapidly approaching. At UFC 178 on September 27, Chris Cariaso will attempt to do what no man in the 125-pound ranks has been able to accomplish—beat Johnson inside the Octagon.
Doing so is a tall task—and Cariaso‘s heavy underdog status certainly reflects that being so—but Johnson isn’t sleeping for a second on The Kamikaze’s dangers. He knows he will have a scrappy veteran on his hands on Saturday night, and Johnson will be once again looking to get the job done by any means necessary.
“He is a good matchup, and Chris [Cariaso] is a tough guy,” Johnson said. “He always comes to fight and is a very durable guy. He’s able to take a lot of punishment and is always game. He’s always up to fight, and I think it is going to be a good one. My camp and I are prepared, and we are ready to go out there and fight.”
While Johnson’s reign atop the flyweight division has been dominant and several of his performances over that stretch have been near flawless, the 125-pound titleholder has not been able to escape pointed criticism. Larger fighters have always received the lion’s share of the spotlight in combat sports, and that trend has gone unchanged in the current era of mixed martial arts.
Fighters below the 170-pound limit have faced an uphill battle in the days since BJ Penn fell from his post as the greatest lightweight in the world, and it’s a struggle that still remains. Granted, there have been the fortunate few (Jose Aldo, Ronda Rousey, Anthony Pettis) who have earned respect and, perhaps even more noteworthy, the ever-elusive attention of the modern MMA fan, but fans have thus far been coming around slowly to Johnson.
When his impressive skill set and lopsided nature of his current run are taken into account, a lukewarm thermometer with the UFC fanbase may seem crazy, but it doesn’t make it any less true. In his most recent title defense at UFC 174, the champion put a one-sided beating on No. 1 contender Ali Bagautinov with his full array of skills on display, but that didn’t stop fans from exiting the arena in the early stages of the main event.
Nevertheless, Johnson cannot allow himself to linger on those details. He understands there is a certain amount of effort and self-promotion required of him, but those elements carry zero weight if he isn’t firing on all cylinders come fight night. Johnson understands it is entirely upon him to go out and do his job under the bright lights, and all he can do is hope fans eventually come around.
Yet, fans coming to appreciate how good something was long after it is gone is an unfortunate reality that occurs in the sports world.
“I hope that isn’t the case and people come to appreciate the way I fight, but that could certainly happen,” Johnson said. “That’s happened to me in my own career where I wish I would have spent a lot more time watching K-1 kickboxing when Mirko Cro Cop and Mark Hunt were in there. I wish I was into it a lot more back in the day when I was growing up. Now, I’m trying to play catch-up by watching Glory and Lion Fights just to watch the muay thai and different types of combat sports.
“I’m only 28 years old. I’m still young, and I’m going to be fighting for a long time. Hopefully, people will eventually jump on the bandwagon or whatever people call it.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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