Joseph Benavidez may be the second best fighter in the world at 125 pounds behind champion Demetrious Johnson, but he’s not stressing much right now when it comes to title shots.
Benavidez lost a close decision to Johnson in 2012 to crown the first ever UFC flyweight champion, and while he definitely wants to get back there for another shot, he wants to make sure that when it happens there will be no doubts that he’s going to win.
When he was fighting at bantamweight, Benavidez ended up fighting champion Dominick Cruz twice in a short period of time, and while he hung tight on both occasions, he lost close decisions each time.
At that point, Benavidez was stuck as a contender in the division so long as Cruz remained the champion.
Now with his next fight at UFC Fight Night 28 coming up in Brazil against former top-ranked flyweight Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva, Benavidez is focused on getting better with each fight. When he gets another crack at Johnson, he wants to be sure that he’s walking out with the belt that night.
“If you look at the division and how small it is, I’m right there at the top,” Benavidez said. “I think I could have asked for a title shot after I beat Ian McCall. For me, like I said, I just want to get better. I made the same mistake at 135 fighting (Dominick) Cruz twice in the span of a year and no matter who I beat up, I could be ranked the second guy in the world, but I wasn’t going to get another title shot. I don’t really want that to happen again at (125).”
Benavidez may separate himself from the pack, however, if he can put Formiga away in his home country of Brazil marking his third win in a row since the loss to Johnson.
Check out the entire interview with Benavidez and listen to how he plans on bringing Rocky IV to Brazil next week as well.
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