Enjoying the Ride, UFC 152’s Demetrious Johnson Intends to Prove He Belongs

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt.

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is a man who not only believes in his dreams, he praises the journey he takes to follow them.

The dreams of Johnson were unfulfilled back in March at UFC on FX 2, where he fought Ian McCall in a title eliminator.  Originally, Mighty Mouse was awarded the decision, but the judges reexamined the scorecards and later ruled the fight as a draw.

At UFC on FX 3, Johnson got back on the horse and fixed all of his mistakes from the first fight against McCall.  After being awarded the unanimous decision, Johnson was put back on the right path towards the flyweight title.

Heading into the co-main event of UFC 152 in Toronto, Johnson relishes being the underdog in the title fight against Joseph Benavidez.  He knows that come hell or high water that he’s going to show the world that he deserves to be there.

“Being the underdog doesn’t bother me at all,” Johnson told MMAWeekly Radio.

“These guys that have been fighting have a lot more credentials than I do.  I will watch the video on Joseph and I mean we watched three hours of video on him, I think it was like nine fights we watched.  He has the right path and the favor in this fight, but it doesn’t bother me.  I trained hard for every single fight and I’m ready to go out there and display my skills and show the UFC and the world that I deserve to be there.”

After defeating the former No. 1 flyweight in the world in Ian McCall, it would be hard to say that Johnson doesn’t deserve fighting for a title.  But Johnson is not one to sit back and admire his accomplishments, especially with a world title within his grasp.

“I’ve had dreams about it and what happens.  It’s hard to explain and put into words,” said Johnson. “It’ll mean a lot to me obviously.  It’d be a huge accomplishment in my career, and me being so young; I’m only 26 years old. I’m still a pup. When you look at guys like Vitor Belfort, like he said, it’s just a journey and it is a journey.

“Whether I win, lose, draw or whatever, I’m happy where I’m at.  If I win, I’m going to keep on pushing on.  If I lose, I’m still going to be pushing on.  Regardless of whether I win or lose, the outcome is going to be exactly the same.  I’m going to be back in the gym working hard and keep on improving as a martial artist.”

Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for more UFC 152 news and updates.