Demetrious Johnson is widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters competing in MMA today. Yet, despite his success inside the Octagon, UFC flyweight contender John Dodson believes Mighty Mouse is having a negative impact on the division.
Speaking with Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com, Dodson praised the champion’s abilities inside the cage but pointed to his actions outside of fighting being a hindrance on all UFC flyweights.
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.
Indeed, the UFC flyweight division has been on an uphill climb since the creation of the division. UFC middleweight Michael Bisping infamously called his showdown with Brian Stann at UFC 152 “the real main event” despite the fact Johnson and Joseph Benavidez were headlining the card for the inaugural UFC flyweight championship.
According to MMAPayout, Johnson’s UFC 174 title defense managed a meager 115,000 pay-per-view buys, and his most recent title defense at UFC 178 barely eclipsed the 200,000 buyrate. Johnson has also struggled in the TV ratings as well.
It’s not the first time a fellow flyweight has called out Johnson for his lack of promoting himself or upcoming fights. Back in October, Ian McCall was blunt in his criticism of the champion when speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
“No one really gives a s–t about us, and it’s true,” McCall claimed. “The guy has the personality of my coffee mug. Actually, my coffee mug has more personality because it’s a Joe Rogan coffee mug, so never mind. He doesn‘t do his job as far as marketing.”
McCall is also doing his part to create some intrigue in the division with his upcoming fight against John Lineker. Originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 56, the two men exchanged verbal jabs at one another through Twitter in the lead-up to their fight.
McCall also hilariously took his time to sip on some fluids prior to the two men having a post-weigh-in staredown after the Brazilian missed weight.
McCall would be admitted to a hospital the night before the bout was to happen and the two would be rescheduled to compete at UFC 183. Lineker has since offered McCall a “peace offering” of sorts.
While fighters have been quick to point to Johnson’s personality traits as a reason why the flyweight division has struggled, it’s not the main factor. Numbers are down across the board, which doesn’t help, but it’s also due in large part to the dominance the champion has displayed in his contests.
Johnson has already defeated most of the top contenders in the division and has made it look easy in the process. The only man to give Johnson trouble since he became champion was Dodson, but the challenger is still recovering from an ACL injury.
Without credible challengers, it’s going to be hard for the UFC to promote Johnson’s title fights as something of a special event. Lineker has struggled with making weight, Kyoji Horiguchi is a rising contender but is still likely at least two fights away from a title shot, and most of the top 10 already has a loss from Johnson.
Johnson isn’t the most marketable champion in terms of drawing fans in, but as Dodson pointed out, that puts the ball squarely in the court of rising challengers to do their job of selling fights with or without the belt on the line.
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