Demetrious Johnson found himself in an odd spot Sunday afternoon.
Hours after he was supposed to fight Ray Borg — but did not — in the main event of UFC 215, Johnson was on the same plane out of Edmonton with Borg and his entire JacksonWink MMA team.
Borg pulled out of the scheduled bout last Thursday due to a viral infection. Johnson, the UFC flyweight champion, would have been attempting to break Anderson Silva’s UFC record for most consecutive title defenses (11) if the fight went off.
While in the airport or on the flight, Johnson told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that Borg didn’t say anything to him.
“No, he did not,” Johnson said. “He didn’t even look me in the eye.”
“Mighty Mouse” is not bothered by that, though. The only thing he wants right now is a quick turnaround. The UFC is hoping to rebook the fight championship fight for UFC 216 on Oct. 7 in Las Vegas.
“He doesn’t need to call me,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t need to text me. He doesn’t need to tweet me or anything like that. Just get healthy and then we can make this fight happen. That’s the only thing that needs to be said and that I’m gonna say. Shit happens and if he has a hard time cutting weight, I think UFC and USADA should consider him going up to 135.”
Borg and his team have been adamant that it was not a weight-cutting issue, but a legitimate illness he had the week of the fight. Johnson said he doesn’t know why it happened and is unconcerned by that.
“You know what?” Johnson said. “I have no idea. All I can do is what I do best — get ready for my fight and hope he shows up. The biggest thing when I hear that is I definitely better win this f*cking fight. We can’t have an unreliable champ. I gotta go out there and put this man away and make sure you guys have a champion that’s always gonna show up, always gonna fight and is always gonna make weight.”
Johnson (26-2-1) was the UFC’s first flyweight champion in 2012 and has held the belt since then. His run as titleholder rivals that of any previous champion in the history of the UFC. Johnson, 31, is regarded by many as being one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
He doesn’t have the title defense record all to himself yet, though, and is not sure if he’ll be paid for showing up at UFC 215 in Edmonton since Borg did not. But Johnson, after eating some chicken and waffles Sunday night, was right back in the gym Monday, eyeing that date in just three weeks.
“It happens, you move forward,” Johnson said. “What can I do?”
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