Demetrious Johnson is ‘pissed off,’ wants UFC to send him ‘eight belts’

Demetrious Johnson is undoubtedly one of the most underrated champions in UFC history. While the UFC flyweight king has ruled over the entire history of the 125-pound class, he hasn’t been able to really break out as a bona fide MMA superstar. When “Mighty Mouse” steps inside of the cage tomorrow night (Sat., April 15, 2017) at UFC on FOX 24 from Kansas City, Missouri, opposite Wilson Reis, he’ll look to tie Anderson Silva’s record of 10-straight UFC title defenses. If that doesn’t scream superstar then what the hell does?

“At the end of the day, everybody keeps saying it’s Anderson Silva’s record, but it’s not about chasing him, it’s about about chasing number 10,” said Johnson during the UFC on FOX 24 open workouts (h/t MMA Fighting). “Obviously, No. 11 is the ultimate goal, so yeah, it would be sweet if I succeeded.”

Ironically, while Johnson goes for his 10th consecutive championship defense, the 30-year-old only has one belt to call his own. While most champions are given a new belt each and every time they defend it, Johnson still only has one, which he got when he defeated Joseph Benavidez for the inaugural championship back in 2012

“I’m getting pissed off about that,” said Johnson. “I saw Daniel Cormier get three damn belts, so Dana White, WME-IMG, whoever writes the checks, give me eight damn belts please, and then I [already have one, so] nine if I win this one. I’ll take it home. I’m going to start collecting these belts. Michael Bisping has two belts and I’m just a nice guy, just a company man, I come here and fight and then they take the belt away from me and I'm like, ‘alright, peace. Call me when you want me to come fight again.’ And thats it. But now I'm seeing these guys with three belts, and I'm like, I only got one belt and have to share it with two of my kids.”

It’s crazy to think that Johnson is almost close to tying the greatest fighter of all time, yet only has one belt to hang above his mantle. If the math is correct (which it is), Johnson is owed eight more belts so he can snap some shots like “Money.”

“If the UFC wants to give me nine belts, if I’m successful on Saturday, I’ll take the belt home — if they send me eight more — then I can do one of the thing I've always wanted to do,” explained Johnson. “Floyd Mayweather has a picture with his all his championship belts, and I think Andre Ward just did it too. And I think it would be cool if I can re-create that same image in mixed martial arts. You got Conor holding up two belts, two weight champion, and I think it would be cool if I were successful and got to 11, and had just 11 UFC titles and have my amateur belts, and be like this is the road I took to get here.”

Belts aside, if “Mighty Mouse” easily defeats Reis at UFC on FOX 24 he may be looking at his last stop at 125 pounds. Johnson has cleared the division out and has plenty of opportunities in the UFC’s bantamweight division, like current champion Cody Garbrandt and former champions Dominick Cruz and T.J. Dillashaw.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on FOX 24 fight card, starting with the Fight Pass "Prelims" matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on FOX at 6 p.m. ET, before the FOX main card start time at 8 p.m. ET.