LAS VEGAS — Everyone keeps asking John Dodson about Demetrious Johnson. Dodson, though, has bigger aspirations than just the UFC flyweight title.
Dodson could put himself into the flyweight No. 1 contender position with a win over Zach Makovsky at UFC 187 on Saturday night. That’s just the beginning in his mind. Dodson doesn’t want to stop until he’s taken titles in three weight classes — flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight.
“I am the greatest fighter in the UFC,” Dodson said. “I should be pound-for-pound the No. 1 in the world. That’s how I look at it in my own eyes. I told everybody I’m gonna be a three-way king, a three-of-a-kind king. Everybody keeps on wondering what that means. I’m gonna show them. I’ve been telling people since day one, since the Ultimate Fighter that I’m gonna hold titles at 125, 135 and 145. I’m gonna stand true to that to this day.”
No UFC fighter has ever won titles in three weight classes. Only Randy Couture and B.J. Penn have won a championship in two divisions. At least in terms of size, Dodson would have a better chance than most. Though his best division seems to be 125, Dodson walks around at more than 160 pounds. The 5-foot-3 powerhouse is a muscular, physical specimen.
Dodson, 30, also already owns a win over bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, a first-round knockout in 2011. He lost a unanimous decision to Johnson two years ago. As for featherweight, Dodson believes it would be a date with Conor McGregor.
“I believe Conor McGregor is gonna be the champion at 145,” Dodson said. “I think he’s gonna beat Jose Aldo and I’m going on the record right now telling everybody that.”
And Dodson is very confident about how a fight between him and the brash Irishman would go.
“The fight with me and McGregor is gonna be me hitting him a lot and then me watching him fall,” Dodson said. “McGregor is gonna sit there and try to outpoint me and try to outmove me. I know his game is really to be in and out. With his in-and-out motion, he’s gonna try to be faster than me. That’s gonna be hard for him to do. He’s a bigger man and let’s be honest, I’ll probably be the fastest guy he’ll ever face in the Octagon.”
Dodson (16-6) is making his return from ACL surgery against Makovsky, who will be no easy task. “The Magician” is a crowd favorite and perhaps the jolt the flyweight division needs in another title fight against Johnson, who has dominated recently. But Dodson doesn’t want to stop there. He wants to take on the world — or at least the two other weight classes. Dodson thinks the UFC would support his dreams.
“I hope so, because I keep talking about it and Dana White loves me and everybody seems to love me,” Dodson said. “So if they all have my back on this, then I’m willing to do it. I want to prove to everybody that pound-for-pound king is somebody that can hold titles in every division.
“If somebody who’s my weight can fight everybody from 125 to 155 and dominate, that should be the man who should be the pound-for-pound king.”