Demetrious Johnson (r) battles Wilson Reis (l) during their Flyweight Championship bout on UFC Fight Night at the Sprint Center on April 15, 2017 (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
UFC all-time-great Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson has offered his take on the UFC's middleweight title picture, and a potential champion-versus-champion bout between 185-pound king Dricus Du Plessis and light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira. RG tells the story.
Du Plessis delivered a gritty, entertaining performance to overcome the challenge of former two-time champion Israel Adesanya, as he submitted "The Last Stylebender" in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
The South African's performance opened a lot of people's eyes to "Stillknocks'" skillset as he went toe to toe with former kickboxing ace Adesanya for three rounds, then rocked the former champ before eventually taking him to the mat and submitting him with a rear-naked choke in Round 4.
Du Plessis' thrilling victory cemented his status as the UFC's premier 185-pound fighter, and almost immediately kicked off a debate over who he should face next.
Speaking on his YouTube channel in the immediate aftermath of Du Plessis' victory, former UFC flyweight world champion Johnson gave his thoughts on what should happen for both men.
"Obviously, Izzy just came off of two losses now. I don't know who he could fight. Maybe he can fight the loser of Robert Whittaker versus Khamzat (Chimaev)," he admitted.
"It's very hard. I feel like Izzy's in this weird area where, where do you go from here? But I want to see him fight again. He is 35 years old. He doesn't have to work, but he loves this s**t, so we'll see what happens."
While he was uncertain about what might be next for Adesanya, "Mighty Mouse" was much more certain over what he'd like to see for reigning champion Du Plessis.
"I think we see him fight the winner of Khamzat and Robert Whittaker," he stated, before pouring cold water on UFC CEO Dana White's pre-UFC 305 comments that Sean Strickland is next in line to fight for the title.
"I know Dana White went out there and said the winner of this fight is gonna fight Sean Strickland," Johnson said.
"I don't know if I want to see that fight. I think Sean Strickland could do something else, because when he fought (Paulo) Costa, I didn't think it was a very exciting fight."
Johnson also addressed the topic of light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. The former middleweight champion moved up to light heavyweight and captured the 205-pound title with a stunning finish of former champion Jiri Prochazka, then knocked out former champ Jamahal Hill before defeating Prochazka again in their world title rematch last time out at UFC 303.
And, after watching Du Plessis submit Adesanya, Pereira posted a photo of himself sitting in front of a television showing a celebrating Du Plessis, alongside a simple message, "Coming down to 185 one more time."
Pereira's next bout was announced this past week, with the Brazilian set to defend his 205-pound title against Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City on October 5. But, rather than move back down to middleweight to chase "champ champ" status, Johnson said he'd much prefer "Poatan" to remain at 205 pounds for now and solidify his status with a couple of title defenses before dropping back down for a champion-versus-champion superfight.
"I don't want to see that right?" he stated.
Maybe if he gets past (Rountree and) Magomed Ankalaev – if he beats those two guys, then I'd love to see him come down to 185. But I think right now you leave Alex Pereira against Khalil, and then you have the winner of Robert Whittaker versus Khamzat taking on DDP."
As the most decorated flyweight champion in UFC history, Johnson also had some words for the winner of the co-main event, as New Zealand's Kai Kara-France picked up a huge first-round TKO finish of former title challenger Steve Erceg in their 125-pound contender clash.
After seeing Kara-France return from more than a year away from the cage and snap his two-fight skid with a resounding stoppage win, Johnson said the time was right for the Kiwi to challenge reigning flyweight champion, Brazil's Alexandre Pantoja.
"He's on a successful run, big knockouts in the division. I think right now, this would be a good opportunity to have Kai Kara-France fight Alex Pantoja," said Johnson.
"I think right now, when you look at the division, you don't have (former champion Deiveson) Figueiredo in there any more. He's at 135. Kara-France just knocked out Steve Erceg, a guy that Pantoja couldn't finish. So I think you give Kai Kara-France the opportunity to fight for the belt against Alex Pantoja.”
Simon is a sports journalist and MMA reporter with 25+ years' experience covering sports and 15+ years covering mixed martial arts as one of the UK's longest-tenured MMA journalists. He also has more than a decade of experience working in the betting and gaming industry.
He has provided coverage for a plethora of major sports outlets, including BBC Sport, USA Today, Daily Mirror and BT Sport, and has covered Olympic Games, World Cups, FA Cup Finals and UFC title fights during his career.
