John Dodson: Demetrious Johnson will try to 'cuddle me to death'
The first fight with Demetrious Johnson from 2013 still eats away at John Dodson, even on the precipice of their rematch this weekend at UFC 191.
Just over a minute and a half into the second round, Dodson cracked Johnson with a hard left hand that sent the champion careening backwards and stumbling to the canvas. Instead of rushing forward and going for the kill, Dodson sat back on his heels and waited for Johnson to get up.
It's a scene Dodson has replayed in his head thousands of times at this point.
"What I need to do is make sure I keep the pressure on Demetrious Johnson when I have him hurt to go ahead and finish him. Last time I didn't do that," Dodson told FOX Sports. "I hurt him in our first encounter, I dropped him and I didn't jump on the opportunity to finish him."
Dodson came close but still didn't beat Johnson and since their fight, the UFC flyweight champion has gone on a reign of terror through the division, winning his last five title defenses in a row and finishing four of his opponents.
As dominant as Johnson has been in the last two years since he first met Dodson in the Octagon, the No. 1 contender who gets his rematch at UFC 191 still hasn't been all that impressed.
Dodson won't deny Johnson is good, but he's also been beating up some of the second tiered fighters in the division, and it's just a matter of time until he meets his equal.
"He just hasn't fought the right guy yet. He knows he hasn't fought the right guys yet," Dodson said. "He knows I'm the one knocking on his door, going into that house and taking that belt away from him. Demetrious Johnson is so afraid of me that he wanted to fight people that were below me.
"He wanted to fight everyone else who wasn't the No. 1 contender. He fought the No. 11 guy, the No. 12 guy, and then he's talking about fighting Henry Cejudo, who just got in the UFC and just got his ranking. If you want to fight all these guys, that just shows what kind of champion you are. I already know I'm inside his head. He's actually talking sh** about me! That means I'm already in his head. I've got this fight in the bag."
As strange as it sounds, Dodson's confidence comes from his first fight with Johnson. Despite having a loss on his record from the encounter, he knows it wasn't his best day at the office.
Dodson was just three fights into his UFC career and only two fights removed from winning “The Ultimate Fighter” when he got his first shot at Johnson. Now, two years and three wins later, Dodson is a much different beast than he was before.
So Dodson is challenging Johnson to prove he was the better man by beating him again at UFC 191.
"He has to believe he's better than me -- and I want him to prove it. I proved I have the power and the speed. I won the first three rounds. I can say I touched him and he fell down," Dodson said. "I hit him with a fading shot. Now imagine what happens when I hit him straight on."
As much as Dodson wants to finish Johnson this weekend and win the UFC flyweight title, he knows putting 'Mighty Mouse' in his rear view mirror won't happen right away. Johnson is a six-time defending champion, and he's the only flyweight title holder in the history of the UFC.
Add to that, Johnson has a win over Dodson from their previous fight and there's little doubt that if the outcome this weekend is the opposite from their last meeting, a trilogy will be on tap at some point down the road.
"I will beat him up again. If it came down to it and they said 'John, we need you to beat Demetrious Johnson for a third time, do you want to go ahead and do it?' I would say sure," Dodson said. "But is his jaw going to be ready for it? Because the last time I think I put him to sleep and broke his jaw, and him having to stand in front of me again, I don't think he wants to do that.
"He's going to try to sit there and cuddle me to death, and he wants to be a little koala. I don't like koalas. I'm an American, and we don't have koala bears here. He wants to be a teddy bear and I don't like teddy bears as it is."
It's clear Dodson's disdain for Johnson hasn't changed much in the past couple of years, but he's not quite ready to call his shot on how the fight with the flyweight champion will end.
All that matters to the challenger is that he comes away victorious and Johnson leaves a broken and beaten former champion.
"I don't care how this fight ends on Sept. 5. The only thing I know is my hand's going to be raised, his face is going to be bloody and I'm going to be looking as handsome as ever. I'm going to be the new champion," Dodson said.
"Everybody that wants to come and try and fight me better realize they're getting knocked out by little John Dodson."
