“I can hang with guys like Yan, Sterling”- Demetrious Johnson likes his chances against the bantamweight elites
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Demetrious Johnson
The former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson had something to say about the bantamweight title unification bout between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. Sterling won the title after Petr hit him with an illegal knee in their first fight. He became the first fighter in the history of the company to win the belt via disqualification, and Yan is hell-bent on getting his belt back.
These two stand at the top of their division, and Sterling was coming off a dominant win against Cory Sandhagen before he fought Yan. UFC booked an immediate rematch between these two, but Sterling had to undergo a neck surgery that forced him out of the action for 9 months. UFC gave Yan an opportunity to fight for the interim bantamweight belt against Cory Sandhagen, and Yan got the better of Sandhagen in a bantamweight title fight for the ages.
Related – “Give me a little time” Aljamain Sterling tears up as he makes weight for UFC 273
Former flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson stood at the top of their division for a long time, and he currently competes in the One Championship promotion. He recently defeated Rodtang to become the champion, and he talked about the possibility of competing against the elites of the UFC’s bantamweight division.
“Learned a lot from that fight”- Demetrious Johnson claims his loss against Dominick Cruz changed his career for good
Demetrious Johnson believes he is much smaller in size, but he would do pretty well against Yan or Sterling. “I know I’m a smaller 135er, but I think skill set-wise, I think I can hang with guys like Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling,” Johnson said in an interview on Morning Kombat. “I know Adriano Moares can hang with those guys, too. They are definitely a lot, lot bigger, you know? I remember Aljamain Sterling said he walks around at 165. I was like, ‘Sh*t, I can barely get over 142 and I’m having ribs and everything.’”
“Dominick Cruz is a great athlete, a great fighter, and I lost to him and learned a lot from that fight,” Johnson said. “I realized how much bigger the 135ers were compared to me in that timeframe. Even now, I think 135ers are so bigger for me. I’m just a smaller guy. I’m an in-betweener, like Matt Serra. He could make 155, but he was too small for 170, so he would go back and forth trying to find his way.”
Also read – “I just made a joke”- Petr Yan clarifies his comment about killing Aljamain Sterling’s team before UFC 273
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Suryansh Thakur
(1600 Articles Published)