Demetrious Johnson blasts UFC flyweight title farce – ‘I never missed weight’

Demetrious Johnson was fairly frank in his assessment of the UFC flyweight title farce that unfolded last weekend in Norfolk.

Deiveson Figueiredo got a second-round knockout of Joseph Benavidez on Saturday night – but wasn’t able to win the vacant title because he missed weight.

“It’s a s*** show,” Johnson told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday night.

The belt had of course been stripped from Henry Cejudo, who took it from UFC flyweight legend Johnson in August 2018 but had not defended it since beating TJ Dillashaw over a year ago.

“Me and Joseph fought in 2012 in Toronto,” Johnson said. “Me cutting to 125 [pounds], I had to cut eight and a half pounds. I was like, let’s get in that tub because you know what, I ain’t giving away 20 per cent’. Money is money and I’m not about giving free money away.

“The second time I fought Joseph in California, I had to cut I think it was eight pounds, and I got in that tub and I sat there and I made weight.”

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The 33-year-old Johnson now fights out of One Championship in Asia, where he is set to challenge Adriano Moraes for the flyweight title on April 10 in Jakarta – and where he also no longer has to cut weight.

“When it comes to weight cutting, it’s part of the sport. It’s a bad thing about the sport, you could say, but I’ve never missed it,” he said.

“It’s one of my jobs. An old friend said you’ve got two jobs as an athlete, and that’s make weight, and fight. That’s always been in the back of my head.

“But now I don’t have to worry about making weight. I walk around at 138 pounds, just diluted, and boom, step on the scales and life is good.”