Demetrious Johnson vs. TJ Dillashaw | UFC Betting Sites

Demetrious Johnson Reveals Who TJ Dillashaw Should Fight Next

Demetrious Johnson reveals who he thinks UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw should fight in his next bout. Although the former UFC flyweight champion is no longer under contract with the UFC, he’s still keeping an eye on the Las Vegas-based promotion. According to Johnson, he thinks Marlon Moraes would be the perfect opponent for Dillashaw’s […]

The post Demetrious Johnson Reveals Who TJ Dillashaw Should Fight Next appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Demetrious Johnson reveals who he thinks UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw should fight in his next bout.

Although the former UFC flyweight champion is no longer under contract with the UFC, he’s still keeping an eye on the Las Vegas-based promotion.

According to Johnson, he thinks Marlon Moraes would be the perfect opponent for Dillashaw’s next title defense. He elaborated on his belief during a recent interview.

“In my personal opinion, if I were to say what would be the best thing to happen, if T.J. went off and defended the belt against Marlon Moraes, who’s the number-one contender in my personal opinion, and then Henry Cejudo can go defend his belt,” Johnson told Helen Yee Sports.

“Because a lot of these champ-champ and double champ and all that stuff, it kind of holds the division. When I’m sitting by watching it, I’m ready to see Marlon Moraes get his chance. I think when there’s absolutely nobody for those two to compete against, that’s when you do superfights.”

Dillashaw likely has unfinished business with UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo. It all goes back to Dillashaw’s failed attempt to capture more gold when he lost to Cejudo for the 125-pound strap.

Thus, the promotion is likely to book a rematch that will see Dillashaw defend his bantamweight title against Cejudo next.

The post Demetrious Johnson Reveals Who TJ Dillashaw Should Fight Next appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Demetrious Johnson Claims He Accepted Superfight Against UFC Champion Before Injury

Demetrious Johnson is claiming the UFC had different plans for him.

The post Demetrious Johnson Claims He Accepted Superfight Against UFC Champion Before Injury appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Demetrious Johnson is slated to defend the UFC flyweight title against Henry Cejudo while former UFC champ Cody Garbrandt will challenge TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title at the upcoming UFC 227 pay-per-view event.

For months before these fights were announced, UFC President Dana White pushed for Johnson to fight Dillashaw but Johnson was not being receptive to a fight with Dillashaw even though White and other UFC officials were pushing for it last year, which ultimately led to White mocking Johnson for it and wanting a title defense against Ray Borg.

In a recent interview to promote this upcoming title defense and pay-per-view event, Johnson stated that he accepted a superfight against Dillashaw but had to pull out of the fight due to an injury.

“I accepted the fight, I got injured, I had surgery, and they never offered it to me after I got injured,” Johnson said on today’s UFC 227 media conference call (transcript courtesy of MMAJunkie). “When they offered it to me I accepted, I got injured and got surgery, and then when it came time to fight again, from my understanding, from my management’s point of view, T.J. got offered to fight Cody (Garbrandt) with a brand new deal, so God bless him for getting a new deal to fight Cody.

“So the entire lead-up to this fight, even in July, I was never offered to fight T.J. Dillashaw. Before I got injured I was up for fighting him, then they moved on and went with Cody and T.J.”

“If the money’s right,” Johnson said. “I’ve always been up front about these super fights. Everyone keeps asking me. If the money’s not there and the compensation’s not there, then I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s obviously up to my management to make that happen. My management knows what I want, the UFC knows what I want and for me, I just show up and fight the No. 1 contender in the flyweight division and will continue to do that until something comes to my table that’s appetizing.”

“I’m sure he’s going to come out and try to show me something new, and I’m looking forward to it,” Johnson said. “I’ve had rematches before. This isn’t the first time. Taken on John Dodson twice and fought Joseph Benavidez twice. Obviously you have to fight a little different. It’s a brand new fight so whatever happened in the past is the past. I expect to see a newly minted Henry Cejudo and I’m going to go out there and test his skills.”

The UFC 227 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, August 4, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California with the the main card airing on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FX at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

The post Demetrious Johnson Claims He Accepted Superfight Against UFC Champion Before Injury appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Quote: TJ Dillashaw vs. Demetrious Johnson Will Happen In July

As a 35-fight MMA veteran, Muay Thai world champion and former UFC fighter Duane Ludwig spent 15 years competing in combat sports. After retiring from fighting in 2012, ‘Bang’ settled into a role as a full-time Muay Thai and MMA striking coach by propelling California’s Team Alpha Male to new heights in a short amount of […]

The post Quote: TJ Dillashaw vs. Demetrious Johnson Will Happen In July appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

In particular, current UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw found the most success from Ludwig’s tutelage. After he won the bantamweight title from Renan Barao at UFC 173 in 2014, Dillashaw and Ludwig moved their fight camp – amidst a highly-publicized spat with TAM that exists to this day – to Colorado where ‘Bang’ opened his own gym.

Since then, Dillashaw lost the title to Dominick Cruz in a close split decision in 2016, before winning it back against Cody Garbrandt after the feud started by Dillashaw and Ludwig moving away from TAM. A possible rematch between Dillashaw and Garbrandt was rumored for March 3’s UFC 222, but Dillashaw and his team were understandably much more interested in a champ vs. champ super fight with dominant flyweight king Demetrious Johnson, although no official details have been confirmed.

Speaking during an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour today, Ludwig discussed why Dillashaw vs. Johnson is the much better fight:

“The better fight is against Demetrious Johnson, he is the only real big fight for TJ Dillashaw right now. Cody (Garbrandt) doesn’t deserve a rematch. (Cody) got knocked out in the second round, he hasn’t really earned that rematch. I know TJ got dropped in the first round but he came back and knocked Cody out.”

‘Bang’ also detailed why Dillashaw vs. Johnson was the best fight for ‘The Viper’ and why a rematch with Garbrandt was not.

The longtime coach said he understood that new UFC owners Endeavor were trying to make back their investment when featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his headlining bout with Frankie Edgar, but he insisted the timing was wrong for Dillashaw given that he had just had a child, and also thought Garbrandt just didn’t deserve the fight:

“What we’ve got here is an entertainment business taking over a martial arts company. TJ just had a kid, and the timing wasn’t right for the Johnson fight at that time, but the company is trying to make their investment back, but TJ vs. Johnson has to happen. They must really like Cody right now because he doesn’t deserve that rematch.”

He then reiterated their team was looking for the super fight, and that it would happen this July during International Fight Week while touting Dillashaw’s standing as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in his mind:

“We are hunting for that Johnson superfight. TJ is not a big 135-pounder, he has to lift quite a lot make 135 pounds. He is basically between the two weight classes, he could defend both titles. We’ve trained from day one to be the best, our main goal is to see how good we can get him. It’s time to have the two best mixed martial artists in the lower weight classes meet and test TJ’s skill set again Demetrious. The fight with DJ will happen in July, at international fight week, and TJ will be the new 125-pound champion of the world.

“I think right now, TJ is the best fighter in the world regardless of weight class. Who knocked Cody out in the second round, anybody else? No, he ran through Renan Barao twice.”

Yet while it seems Ludwig is only focused on grabbing the highest-profile fight he can for his best student, ‘Bang’ also discussed a bigger picture view of his career as a martial arts coach, noting that he was excited to have a rewarding non-stressful career teaching. He’s apparently parlayed that into a seminar with Dillashaw and Bas Rutten in addition to a few other high-profile names, and wants to use that forum to pass on his wealth of fighting skill to those willing to learn:

“I’m super happy and I just love teaching martial arts. I focus on just teaching martial arts to martial artists, it’s not stressful, it’s pretty much rewardable and enjoyable. I have a huge seminar coming up this weekend.”

“I’ll be in New York this weekend with TJ Dillashaw, Bas Rutten, Andy Souwer, Chinzo Machida and also Shane Fazen. We are going to be doing a three-day seminar in New York City, teaching the best martial arts to all the people we can get together. It’s open to the public.

“I love being the Google of martial arts, finding the best martial artists and picking their brains and passing that information on to the people who are attending.”

So while Ludwig may be the in the media for his connection to Dillashaw, he also wanted to clarify that he doesn’t run an MMA team any longer, and wants to teach the current students at his MMA academy to be the best martial artists they can be:

“I want to help other people become better people and martial artists now. If I was running a fight team still, I would have the best fighters, but I’m running a martial arts academy and I try to teach them to be the best martial artists.”

The post Quote: TJ Dillashaw vs. Demetrious Johnson Will Happen In July appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Demetrious Johnson Discusses Why He’ll Only Fight Dillashaw On ‘Stacked’ Pay-Per-View

Dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has accomplished just about everything in mixed martial arts (MMA), including breaking Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive title defense with a jaw-dropping submission of Ray Borg at UFC 216, but he’s yet to attain a status that may be desired above all else in today’s UFC – becoming […]

The post Demetrious Johnson Discusses Why He’ll Only Fight Dillashaw On ‘Stacked’ Pay-Per-View appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The fact he has not after essentially cleaning out the 125-pound weight class with one dominant performance after another could mean ‘Mighty Mouse’ will need to take on bigger challenges to get headlines, the reason he’s been linked to a super fight with bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw for the better part of the last year.

Although resistant at first, Johnson has seemed to warm up to the idea, recently targeting International Fight Week in July for the champion vs. champion tilt. And in a recent discussion about the scenario with ESPN, Johnson flatly said he’s aiming for the biggest show he can get on because he’s deserving of such a spot:

“That’s what the UFC wants. It’s the superfight everyone wants. I think TJ and I are both on board. We just want to make sure it’s on a stacked card. We want to make sure we can benefit from a good pay-per-view buy. I think I deserve it, and I think he deserves it.”

Seemingly coming to terms that he could not headline a pay-per-view smash only by himself, ‘Mighty Mouse’ admitted he wanted a true draw in the headliner’s spot so he could get paid.

To him, it’s not a way to duck fights or any other criticism he hears about, but more of a way to maximize your earnings by being a savvy businessman:

“I’d rather have somebody else [be the] main event, who is going to bring in way more PPVs. In my opinion, that’s held up the fight on my end.

“I’ve seen guys jump on [stacked] PPV cards and make $1.5 million, fighting an inferior opponent than who I’m about to fight. Me and TJ could fight on a smaller card and pull 275,000 buys, get an extra check for $75,000. My management told me, ‘You know what, we’ll hold out for a big event.’

“A lot of media and fans think that’s a way of turning down fights or ducking someone, but that’s a way of being a smart businessman and getting the most money you can get. … I’ll wait for that opportunity, because in that one card, I’ll basically make more money than three fights — a year and a half of my life — [combined].”

Finally, not only does he insist it be on a massive card, but ‘Mighty Mouse’ even knows what kind of an event he’s looking for – one with three title fights on it – and he even named which bouts he wants on the card:

“If we can get three title fights — a champions vs. champions edition — that should do well,” Johnson said. “If they did Georges St-Pierre vs. Tyron Woodley, Amanda Nunes vs. Cyborg [Cris Justino] and me vs. TJ, they can send me the contract. They can negotiate that contract now.”

The post Demetrious Johnson Discusses Why He’ll Only Fight Dillashaw On ‘Stacked’ Pay-Per-View appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Duane Ludwig: Demetrious Johnson vs. TJ Dillashaw Needs To Happen

Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw’s head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig is more than confident in his star pupil’s ability to make 125 pounds. Now that Dillashaw is once again champion, the push for a super fight with flyweight kingpin Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson seems to be inevitable. Both Dana White and Dillashaw have actively campaigned for […]

The post Duane Ludwig: Demetrious Johnson vs. TJ Dillashaw Needs To Happen appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw’s head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig is more than confident in his star pupil’s ability to make 125 pounds.

Now that Dillashaw is once again champion, the push for a super fight with flyweight kingpin Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson seems to be inevitable. Both Dana White and Dillashaw have actively campaigned for the bout.

Now, the question is can Dillashaw make flyweight? Ludwig says he absolutely can:

“We were en route to fight Demetrious at one point and the direction he was taking with his strength and conditioning coach, T.J. was looking phenomenal on the mitts and the sparring and the training and he looked good, his spirits were good,” Ludwig said. “So obviously we didn’t make 125 and fight and compete, but when were were en route of that, nothing really changed. T.J.’s not a big ‘35er, so he can make ‘25. It’s not going to be easy, but he’s the most dedicated person that I’ve ever seen. He really is.”

Dillashaw took back the bantamweight belt after knocking out undefeated champ Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217. He had prior campaigned for the “Mighty Mouse” fight when Ray Borg had pulled out of his first scheduled fight with the flyweight champ at UFC 215. Johnson opted to wait to fight Borg at UFC 216 rather than take on Dillashaw.

With “Mighty Mouse” lacking a bit in terms of PPV sales, a super fight with the bantamweight champion could prove to be a hit for sales and PPV buys. Demetrious Johnson has also cleared out his division two times over, and is in desperate need of fresh title challengers, according to Ludwig:

“I think it needs to happen,” Ludwig said. “Demetrious, he’s fighting the top guys – this works out because (Joseph) Benavidez is out right now, he’s still having to wait a couple of months with his knee surgery, so it works out time-wise, so in my eyes I would like to see T.J. drop down, fight Demetrious, and then go back to ‘35.”

Are you behind a Dillashaw vs “Mighty Mouse” super fight? Can TJ make flyweight?

The post Duane Ludwig: Demetrious Johnson vs. TJ Dillashaw Needs To Happen appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

TJ Dillashaw Denies Dominick Cruz Rematch

For newly re-crowned UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, a fight with flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson is the best fight to make. While “Mighty Mouse” has been less than receptive to it, Dillashaw has ramped up the trash talk after once again becoming a UFC champion by stopping arch rival Cody Garbrandt the November 4’s UFC […]

The post TJ Dillashaw Denies Dominick Cruz Rematch appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

For newly re-crowned UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, a fight with flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson is the best fight to make.

While “Mighty Mouse” has been less than receptive to it, Dillashaw has ramped up the trash talk after once again becoming a UFC champion by stopping arch rival Cody Garbrandt the November 4’s UFC 217.

Dillashaw discussed why he thinks it’s the only fight for “Mighty Mouse” to take during an interview on The MMA Hour on Monday.

“Why not? This fight makes sense. He doesn’t have anybody and this thing should’ve happened in August. He wants a big money fight. He wants to prove that he’s the pound-for-pound king.

“This is the step. I can make the weight. I wanted to stop him from breaking the record and he wanted to break it first, so he got that out of the way, he got to do what he wanted to do and he beat the record books.

“But now it’s time to man up and get this fight going. This is a fight that fans want to see. I keep hearing them say it and everyone’s loving it, so let’s get this done. There’s no reason to be scared now, you got to break the record.”

As for the bantamweight division, Dillashaw doesn’t see a rematch with Garbrandt or Dominick Cruz anytime soon, especially considering the way in which Garbrandt was dispatched by the current champ at UFC 217 and how Cruz refused to grant Dillashaw a rematch after winning the belt in a controversial split decisions UFC Fight Night 81.

Dillashaw has remained adamant before and after winning the bantamweight belt, which has surely given him an advantage in seeking a superfight with the UFC’s most dominant champion:

“He came by when I was taking photos with the belt (at UFC 217) and he said that I did the first step,” Dillashaw said. “So in my mind, that’s him saying, ‘Let’s get this on.’ I did the first step, because he said to the media that I wasn’t worthy of a title shot, that I needed to be a champion, that he wasn’t going to fight me because I wasn’t a champion. And he came by and said that I did the first step, so I think in his mind too, this is the fight that makes sense.”

And as for his old nemesis Cruz, Dillashaw was clear that he wasn’t interested in the match up as Cruz had already denied him a rematch:

“Cruz can suck it, man,” Dillashaw said. “He’s the one who made me wait forever. He knew he should’ve given me that rematch. He was scared. He thought he was cherry-picking by picking Cody. He was trying to hold onto that belt, get as much as he could. So if it’s up to me, he can wait. He can wait as long as I did. I couldn’t care less. I mean, I do want to beat that guy. I do want to smash because I know that I can, but I don’t care what he says. I’m going for the fight that makes the most sense for me right now, and that’s Demetrious Johnson, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”

Do you want to see Dillashaw challenge for the flyweight belt? Or should the new champion focus solely on his own division?

The post TJ Dillashaw Denies Dominick Cruz Rematch appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.