Demetrious Johnson is moving up to the bantamweight division. Here’s what he had to say about it, and why he’s doing it. “For me, it’s not about going up,” Johnson said “I don’t have an ego in trying to fight guys who are bigger than me. I’ve been there and done that, and obviously the only thing that makes me intrigued to go up a weight class is if the paycheck is gonna be nicer.”
“I think anybody I fought is the most dangerous guy I’ve ever fought, just because I’m the only champion ever to be in the flyweight division,” he said. “If anybody can beat me, then they just became the man who decapitated the king. So I know he’s hungry, I know he’s young, and I’ve never taken any fighter lightly and I don’t take my paycheck lightly, so I’m gonna go out there and it’s gonna be one of the best performances you’ve ever seen.”
He also spoke about the possible title defense record that he could set, breaking the great Anderson Silva’s record.
“I think when it’s all over and done with, if I’m successful, then obviously that’s something nobody else has done,” Johnson said. “So I’ve got to do that first, and when I get back home with the family, sit down, crack open that beer, take a deep breath and say, ‘We done did it,’ that’s when I’ll realize that I’ve done something.”
