One of the UFC’s greatest ever champions has weighed in on the debate over who middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis should fight next – and it’s NOT Alex Pereira.
Former middleweight champion and current light heavyweight champ Pereira posted on social media after Du Plessis’ win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, saying that he would move down to 185 pounds again.
But, per RG.org, former undisputed UFC flyweight champion and current ONE Championship flyweight king Johnson gave his assessment of the current championship picture at 185 pounds, and said that the upcoming contenders clash at UFC 308 should determine the next man to face “Stillknocks” in his next title defence.
“I think we see him fight the winner of Khamzat and Robert Whittaker,” he said on his YouTube channel after UFC 305.
“I know Dana White went out there and said the winner of this fight is gonna fight Sean Strickland. I don’t know if I want to see that fight. I think Sean Strickland could do something else, because when he fought (Paulo) Costa, I didn’t think it was a very exciting fight.”
As for the possible superfight between Du Plessis and Pereira, Johnson said that the time wasn’t right for the matchup, and that he’d prefer to see both men deal with contenders in their respective divisions before potentially meeting further down the road.
“I don’t want to see that, right?” he stated.
“Maybe if he gets past (Rountree and Magomed) Ankalaev – if he beats those two guys, then I’d love to see him come down to 185.
“But I think right now you leave Alex Pereira against Khalil, and then you have the winner of Robert Whittaker versus Khamzat taking on DDP.”
