Demetrious Johnson: “I would even do a handicap. I won’t even grapple with him. I won’t even go to the ground at all”.
Although Floyd Mayweather Jr. shot down the latest rumors of a UFC stint, fans and fighters continue to predict how well the undefeated boxing star would fare in the Octagon.
The rumors started when Mayweather, 40, teased fans by saying that he could sign with the UFC for a billion dollars. Things escalated when UFC president Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that he was in talks with ‘Money’, saying “everything is a realistic possibility. Mayweather vs. McGregor f---ing happened. Anything is possible."
Conor McGregor, who lost to Mayweather in the boxing ring this past August, called the 50-0 boxer a ‘p-ssy’ for going back on his word, and UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has even offered to fight ‘The Best Ever’ in a handicap match.
“I think it would go very well for me, obviously,” Johnson told TMZ Sports in a recent interview (h/t Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting). “I’m very well-rounded. It’s mixed martial arts. I would even do a handicap. I won’t even grapple with him. I won’t even go to the ground at all. I’ll get him in the clinch, bang up, hit him in the liver, kick him in the liver, take out his legs and work him.”
Johnson, 31, is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and has defended his UFC title a record-breaking eleven times, surpassing Anderson Silva for the most consecutive title defenses with his spectacular submission win over Ray Borg at UFC 216.
‘Mighty Mouse’ said he would attack Mayweather’s liver in the clinch and invited the retired boxer to try and ‘beat up the smallest guy in the UFC’.
“I’d probably get after that liver. Have to get after that liver,” Johnson said. “Beat him up in the Muay Thai clinch because he likes to clinch a lot. You see it in his boxing, when he clinches, once we initiate that clinch, I’m gonna throw a knee right to his liver.
“Floyd, come over here and beat up the smallest guy in the UFC. Come try your hand, try to beat up the smallest guy.”
The Mayweather bout is, for obvious reasons, unlikely to materialize, but ‘DJ’ could go on to defend his flyweight title against current bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw, which would be the biggest fight of Johnson’s career.
