HOUSTON — Demetrious Johnson, UFC’s flyweight champion and pound-for-pound best fighter, is proud of being a master craftsman.
While other fighters jump from weight class to weight class, Johnson deftly dominates his division. He hasn’t lost a fight since dropping a unanimous decision to Dominick Cruz in October 2011, and his winning streak now sits at 11, with nine title defenses.
So would be consider stepping outside flyweight and chasing a second belt?
“Yeah definitely, if the money’s right,” Johnson told NESN.com’s Rachel Holt on Tuesday on Super Bowl LI Radio Row. “It’s always about the money aspect of it, you know. I need to have an incentive to go up and do it, you know.
“When you look at the best athletes around the world, a good example is Usain Bolt. He runs the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash every single year at the Olympics, and he breaks his own record, but no one ever tells him, ‘Why don’t you run a 400? Why don’t you run a mile? I mean, you’re fast,’ because he’s always focused on his craft, which is trying to beat his record, and that’s why I’m trying to do. I’m trying to beat my record. I’m trying to always improve myself, better myself and trying to beat Anderson Silva’s record.”
Silva, of course, rattled off 16 consecutive wins and made 10 title defenses, so Johnson has some work to do.
Watch the video above to see Johnson’s full interview with NESN.com’s Rachel Holt on Super Bowl LI Radio Row, as “Mighty Mouse” discusses other UFC topics such as Ronda Rousey’s apparent retirement from the sport and the notion that some football players would make great fighters.