Joseph Benavidez: Third shot at UFC champ Demetrious Johnson 'only fight I want'

LAS VEGAS – Joseph Benavidez said it’s finally time for him to get a third shot at UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

With two title losses to Johnson (25-2-1 MMA, 13-1-1 UFC) already on his record, Benavidez (25-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) has been forced to win, win and win some more despite clearly being the second best fighter in the weight class behind champ “Mighty Mouse.”

With six consecutive victories – the most recent a split-decision win over Henry Cejudo (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale – Benavidez wants to run it back with Johnson one more time.

Johnson earned his own win at the event after beating Tim Elliott (13-7-1 MMA, 2-5 UFC) by unanimous decision in the FS1-televised main event at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. It was his ninth consecutive title defense. He’ll attempt to tie Anderson Silva’s all-time record of 10 in his next fight, and as the man many perceive to be Johnson’s biggest threat, Benavidez wants the chance to prevent history.

“That’s the only fight I want,” Benavidez said win. “I have six wins in a row. There’s no other fight that I want. … People say I lost twice, but me and Demetrious could fight a million times, and there’s going to be a million awesome competitions between two world-class fighters. Let us go after it again. Him and Tim’s fight was awesome tonight. That’s exactly how I feel. Of course that’s what I want. That’s the only fight I want.”

Nearly three years have passed since Benavidez last shared the octagon with Johnson. He suffered a first-round knockout loss to the champ at UFC on FOX 9 in December 2013, marking his second loss to Johnson after falling short in a split decision in the UFC’s inaugural 125-pound title fight, which took place at UFC 152 in September 2012.

Although bookig a third fight when one side is up 2-0 is not a common UFC matchmaking practice, Benavidez, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, has done all the necessary work to be an exception.

Benavidez’s current streak includes wins over four former UFC title challengers, but an argument could be made that his performance against Cejudo wasn’t convincing enough to warrant another crack at the belt. Benavidez is open to a second fight with Cejudo but said it doesn’t need to happen immediately. Instead, his sights are set on finally beating No. 1-ranked Johnson.

“I’ll fight whoever again,” Benavidez said. “It was a fun fight, and it was a challenging time. It was one of those fights that right when you’re done it’s like, ‘Man, there was this opening, and there was that opening.’ I was just getting going. If there were two more rounds, I would have seen some things that landed.

“He’s pretty much just starting his career almost. He’s going to be around for a while. So will I, so (a rematch is) always going to be there. That was definitely the best of him.”

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.