Not scared of 'Mighty Mouse,' Sergio Pettis says flyweight division 'needs a new face'

Sergio Pettis will be pushing for a fight with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson if he comes out victorious in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 114 headliner with Brandon Moreno.

Johnson (26-2-1 MMA, 14-1-1 UFC), who will attempt to break the UFC’s consecutive title defense record when he takes on Ray Borg in next month’s UFC 215 main event, is someone Pettis (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) believes he’s capable of beating, despite the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA rankings having run through every 125-pound opponent he’s faced.

Pettis said he will bring something to the table that “Mighty Mouse” hasn’t experienced, and as long as Johnson keeps the belt and Pettis lives up to his end of the bargain against Moreno (14-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC), he doesn’t see why he shouldn’t get the next title shot.

He explained in a recent interview with MMAjunkie’s own John Morgan.

“I feel like an impressive win would definitely get me into title contention. The division needs a new face, and I feel like I’m going to be the next one to do it. I feel like a lot of these guys played into Demetrious’ game. They’re all elephants. They saw the mouse and got scared. I’m not afraid. I think my timing is what’s going to happen now. I’ve went through what I’ve went through, took my (losses), grown from them, and I think I’ve gotten better as a person, as a martial artist. If that’s what’s next on the route, I believe that’s what I want, and I believe that’s what they’ll give me.”

Check out it (and follow MMAjunkie on Instagram):

"They're all ??; they saw the ?? and got scared" – @sergiopettis coming for @mightymouse125 after #UFCMexico • • • ?? @themmaroadshow – @usatodaysports

A post shared by MMAjunkie (@mmajunkiedotcom) on Aug 3, 2017 at 9:53am PDT

UFC Fight Night 114 takes place at Mexico City Arena in Mexico, and the card airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

For more on UFC Fight Night 114, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.