T.J. Dillashaw: Demetrious Johnson will ruin legacy by not fighting me

Former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw finds himself in a familiar place.

Early in 2016, he wanted an immediate rematch with Dominick Cruz after losing his belt in a closely contested decision. Cruz had other ideas, though, and went on to face Urijah Faber before ceding the belt to Cody Garbrandt.

In April, Dillashaw was scheduled for a title shot against former Alpha Male teammate-turned rival Garbrandt, whom he’d coached against on “The Ultimate Fighter 25,” which is currently airing. But Garbrandt (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) injured his back and was forced to withdraw.

And just a few weeks ago, Dillashaw said he volunteered for and was granted a shot at the flyweight title against champion Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1 MMA, 14-1-1 UFC). Dillashaw figured if he couldn’t take back the bantamweight belt, a flyweight one would do nicely as a makeup for the Garbrandt scratch.

But now Johnson is refusing the matchup, instead targeting his 11th consecutive title defense against Ray Borg (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC). Johnson says he’s the victim of “mistreatment and bullying” by the UFC, claiming the promotion hasn’t promoted him properly and even threatened to shut down the entire flyweight division if he did not accept the bout.

“I feel like it’s disappointing that Demetrious is going to go out this way and not take the fight,” Dillashaw (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) today told MMAjunkie. “I don’t care if it’s Cody or if it’s Demetrious, I just want to fight. I want to fight soon. I want that big title fight.

“But I need to know sooner than later, because I’m in the process of changing my entire body around right now. This isn’t an eight-week process; this is a 12-week process. Not only do I want to make the weight, I want to perform at the weight, as well.”

After the latest snub, Dillashaw is hoping Johnson changes his mind and signs a contract. As of this moment, he is training and dieting as though he will fight the flyweight champ Aug. 19 in Seattle, an event expected to serve as UFC 215. That’s about the most he can do.

At this point, Dillashaw said, there’s no cutoff for when the drop to flyweight becomes untenable for the late summer event. But the longer he waits, the more he’s at a deficit should the fight materialize.

“I think the smartest thing for me to do is stay on the path I’m on now until Demetrious mans up and realizes he’s going to ruin his legacy by not taking this fight,” Dillashaw said.

In a lengthy statement, Johnson accused Dillashaw of being UFC President Dana White’s “buddy who is neither a bantamweight champion or flyweight contender,” saying Dillashaw should have to work his way into contention before getting a title shot.

“That’s the farthest from the truth,” Dillashaw said. “Me and Dana were butting heads for the last two years about me trying to get a title fight.”

Johnson also cast doubt on whether Dillashaw can make weight and said the UFC undermined its request to fight Dillashaw by telling him a possible fight with Garbrandt wouldn’t sell on pay-per-view. But Dillashaw said all of Johnson’s concerns are “null and void” when it comes to a potential fight between them.

“(Johnson) wants pay-per-view, which he would get if he fights me,” Dillashaw said. “He wants to be promoted, which he would get if he fights me. We both want the same thing – we both want to be the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, as well as make a lot of money and be promoted. To fix all those problems, the only thing he has to do is fight me.

“Demetrious wants to say I’m jumping the line to fight him when there is no line to jump. Cody jumping in front of me to fight for the title is a bigger jump than me jumping the line at 125 to fight him.”

So the former bantamweight champ has tried to give Johnson some additional incentive to punch him in the face, issuing a callout on Instagram in response to Johnson’s statement.

“This is the fight game, I’ve takin title fights on 24hrs notice,” he wrote Monday. “I’m already waking up at 143lbs, on my way down to put a squash to this hype. You want to call yourself the Goat then what do you have to be afraid of?!”

The problem with that approach, it seems, is that Johnson doesn’t appear to be a man swayed by personal grudges. He simply wants the UFC to pay him Dillashaw’s guaranteed purse if Dillashaw shows up heavy, a demand Johnson said the UFC is unwilling to meet.

Dillashaw said if it were up to him, he’d offer his guaranteed money and urged the UFC to do the same.

“He should be worried about Ray Borg missing weight; he’s missed weight half of his career,” Dillashaw said. “I’ve never missed weight since I was 8 years old wrestling. Tell him he can have my show money if I miss the weight. I ain’t going to miss it. It’s just another excuse not to take the fight.”

“I don’t know why it’s pulling teeth with him,” he added. “The only thing I can think of is that he’s scared to lose his belt.”

Johnson declined an interview request from MMAjunkie.

Dillashaw said his public callout and rebuttals aren’t necessarily personal. He said outside business, he respects Johnson and thinks highly of his family. Only in this case, he thinks Johnson is off base.

Dillashaw said the interest that’s been generated since his name was dropped by White has proven his case that there’s money to be made with a fight. More than that, he said, Johnson could solidify his status as the pound-for-pound best by beating him to break the UFC’s consecutive title defense record with 11 fights.

If Johnson elects to fight Borg, Dillashaw said, he’ll be missing a big opportunity.

“There’s been a lot of attention, more attention than Demetrious has gotten in a long time because I said I’d fight him,” he said. “It’s been proven there’s attention behind this fight. He’s going to be fighting to break the record, and nobody’s going to watch it (vs. Borg).”

For more on UFC 215, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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