Joseph Benavidez är en riktigt MMA-veteran och den första som utmanade Demetrious Johnson om flugviktstiteln 2012.
Benavidez hade länge hört rykten om att ”Mighty Mouse” var på väg till den Singapore-baserade organisationen ONE Championship. Bytet mellan UFC och ONE Championship är den första ”trade” som gjorts i MMA-historien, vilket skickade Ben Askren till UFC.
LÄS MER: Demetrious Johnson för Ben Askren – UFC och ONE nära historiskt byte
“I had heard rumors of him maybe wanting to do that and explore his options,” sade Benavidez om Johnson. “For money, for experience, for just a little bit of everything. So I heard the rumors so when it came out the only thing that surprised me was the way that it happened with the trade, which it’s the first of its kind. I think that is a really amazing story in itself. The fact that it’s the first time for it to happen, two major organizations trade two major players like that.
“Could be the start of a whole new thing, which I thought was cool.”
Hyllar den forne mästaren
Joseph Benavidez, 34, som tog Johnson till ett domslut i deras första match, för att bli avslutad i returmötet – hyllar sin forne rival och önskar honom all lycka.
Han säger bland annat att det Johnson har åstadkommit i UFC är helt unikt – och är inte helt övertygad om att det någonsin kommer att dupliceras.
”You see what he’s accomplished in the UFC and that’s in tact. Now he just wants to go accomplish something else,” fortsatte Benavidez “He seems happy with the division. He’s doing what’s right for him and his family. He’s happy with it. It’s not one of those things where ‘oh my god they forced him out’ or did something wrong. It’s something that he’s happy with and something both parties seemed to agree on.
“I think it’s just cool for the sport in general and I think it would be a lot different case if he was the champion still but the fact that he just lost the belt to Cejudo and this happened, it just seems like the show is going on.”
“Demetrious did amazing things in the flyweight division, did things that may never be done again in any division,”
