Demetrious Johnson wants Anderson Silva's record more than Dominick Cruz's belt
Demetrious Johnson needed less than one round to dispatch his latest challenger, putting Henry Cejudo away by TKO in their fight at UFC 197.
In many ways, Cejudo represented the last man standing in the flyweight division for contenders who hadn't already faced Johnson during his time as champion.
Now that Johnson has beaten the Olympic gold medalist, the question now becomes who does he face next or is moving up a division a better option?
The win over Cejudo marked Johnson's eighth straight title defense and according to the reigning champion at 125 pounds, he's got more important things on his mind that moving up a division to challenge Dominick Cruz for another title.
"I've never shied away from that fight with Cruz. My biggest goal right now is to break that title defense (streak) of Anderson Silva and I believe I can do it," Johnson said at the UFC 197 post-fight press conference.
"So for me to go off and detour on a different route, it's really going to have to make me want to do it. I fought at 135 before. I'm a small guy. I'm not afraid of that fight."
Johnson is very close to conquering Silva's record, which currently stands at 10 consecutive title defenses in the UFC.
Johnson only needs two more wins to tie that record and given his current track record at flyweight, there seems to be very little standing in his way to accomplish that goal.
So for now, Johnson is content fighting the best of the best at flyweight whether in rematches or other challenges because he wants to shatter Silva's record.
Considering how close he is right now, Johnson doesn't expect a move to bantamweight any time soon.
