By Jamie McAllister
Demetrious Johnson in an interview with MMAmania.

Johnson comments on Ian McCall and agrees that his opponent is a huge Flyweight.

“I agree he is a huge 125 pounder. I heard a rumor that he cuts 13.5 pounds the day of weigh-ins so I don’t know how he does it or maybe he’s BS-ing.”

On if he still feels he holds a speed advantage in the Flyweight division after being considered the fastest at 135.

“Yeah, I thought so. I made him miss a lot with my footwork and there were sometimes where he’d throw a kick and I’d sashay it and just keep coming forward. I felt I had the speed advantage and I felt like my athletic ability was the biggest gift I had as well as my speed.”

Johnson prides himself on his strong wrestling however has found himself on his back a lot in the past two fights. However it is not something that worries him.

“It’s part of the sport. The last two fights, I stand with these guys and I guess I”m getting the best of the exchanges. I guess against Cruz, that was a silly fight. I kept on jabbing my range and he would take me down and just hold me down. With Ian McCall, he’d catch my leg and sweep.”

“It hasn’t been like a beautiful double leg against me like I’ve done against opponents like Kid Yamamoto or Damacio Page. I’m always working on getting better and developing my skills and that’s just part of the game. The more you fight, the more aggressive you are with your strikes, you’re more at risk of being taken down.”

In his previous fight with McCall the scores were added up wrong and it should have gone to a fourth round. Johnson thinks he would have been able to pull it out in the fourth.

“I think so. It was a tough round. My shins were destroyed. I suffered a hematoma in my right shin. My mouth was cut up but I think I would have gone out there to the best of my ability and not tried to engage in clinchwork against him. If you watch the fight, the only time I ever had any downfall in my fight against him was when he got a hold of me.”

Johnson on the feeling of being announced the winner of the fight for it later to be announced that it was a draw.

“Honestly, it sucked. I’m the kind of person where, “It is what it is.” I can sit around and complain, say, “it’s BS, we’re supposed to be a professional organization, how can you let this happen?” but I’m not that type of guy. My job is to fight. They pay me to fight and entertain and I just have to make sure to do a good job, put on a good show and make sure my body’s in shape.”

On his preparation for the rematch with McCall.

“Well I’m going to be working on my overall game to get better, and I’d like to get some more size on me. I’d like to come into the weight cut a lot bigger. When I got to Australia, I was 135. I think Ian McCall came in like 143 and Joseph came in about the same size as me. I wanted to make sure I made the weight cut because it was the first time cutting down to 125 in my professional career.”

“This time, I’ll come in a bit heavier. The day of the weigh-ins, I cut two pounds, so I was pretty small. If you watch the fight, I was very drawn out still from my weight cut. I didn’t want to say I did it wrong, but my diet wasn’t good or anything and I was still able to handle myself.”

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