One of the most talked about fights in MMA today is a possible superfight between dominating UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. Pretty much everybody has an opinion on this possible blockbuster, and that includes John Dodson, who has fought both Johnson and Dillashaw in the past.
Dodson fought Dillashaw back in 2011, stopping him with a volley of first-round punches. He’s battled Johnson twice, losing both fights by unanimous decision. In Dodson’s mind, this Johnson vs. Dillashaw could well be predicted with a bit of MMA math: if he beat Dillashaw, but lost to Johnson, then Dillashaw is likely to lose to Johnson.
“It’s funny that he wants to fight Demetrious Johnson because if I didn’t beat Demetrious Johnson and he couldn’t beat me, that means he can’t beat him,” Dodson said during a Facebook Q&A in advance of his UFC Belem scrap with Pedro Munhoz (h/t MMAFighting). “That’s the way I look at that.”
Dodson then explained that, while his win over Dillashaw was some time ago, he’s confident he could beat him again.
“I’m trying to work [back] that way,” Dodson said. “As soon as I get this win, I’m gonna try to work up that little ladder so I can knock [Dillashaw] down off that pedestal. Everyone’s on this ‘Killashaw’ pedestal and they think that he’s the greatest thing ever but they keep on forgetting this fist knocked him out and knocked him silly. He did the stanky leg, all wobbly. And he’s like, ‘That was luck!’ No, that wasn’t luck. That’s called skill. That’s what people do.”
Interestingly, Dodson also believes there’s a possibility he could battle Johnson again in the future – just not at flyweight.
“If he decides to move up to 135, that’s a possibility. I’m not trying to go back down to 125 [pounds] because my kidneys hurt a lot going down to that weight class. I had kidney failure two times and it doesn’t feel too good. It sucks.”
What do you think of John Dodson’s prediction? Who do you think wins a possible TJ Dillashaw vs. Demetrious Johnson fight?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/31/2018.