UFC 191: Johnson vs Dodson 2 (Photo : Photo: Twitter)
The UFC's top-two flyweights didn't wait until Saturday night to exchange punches... verbal jabs that is.
UFC Flyweight Champion, Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, and number-one contender, John "The Magician" Dodson went at it during the UFC 191 media day event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dodson, who's in his second crack at the flyweight title, threw first and exposed the champion's so-called weakness.
"Any man that has been dropped before is going to be scared to be hit again," a reference to their first championship fight. "That man has been hit one too many times and he's going to obviously be scared of me."
"He (Johnson) has more on the line than I do," the former Ultimate Fighter winner continued. "I know I'm the best fighter in the world."
Johnson, on the other hand, criticized his challenger's faulty pre-UFC record.
"When I fought (Ali) Bagautinov, he didn't speak English, when I fought (Kyoji) Horiguchi, he didn't speak English," the champ said. "But when you look at their records, it's way better than John Dodson's."
Mighty Mouse followed, "Dodson has lost six times in his career, I've only lost once."
Before this sure-fire, explosive main event takes place, a featured bout between fast-rising star, Paige Van Zant, and one-time Performance of the Night winner, Alex Chambers, will start off the main card.
Unlike their male counterparts, Van Zant and Chambers talked about their respective training camps and what they will bring inside the octagon.
"I'm prepared for what she brings," Van Zant shared. "This is what I was made for, this is the easy part."
The 21-year-old women's strawweight fighter confidently affirmed, "You're only going to see me continue to evolve."
On the other side of the coin, Chambers knew that odds were not in her favor, and cautioned everyone about complacency.
"Mentally, physically, I'm ready to go," the 36-year-old Australian said. "I don't think I've shown what I'm capable of yet."
She warned, "It's an MMA fight and anything can happen."
UFC 191 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and will showcase a co-main event fight between Andrei "Pitbull" Arlovski (24-10-1) and Frank Mir (18-9-0).
Also part of the main card are a pair of light heavyweight bouts in Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (19-5-0) versus Jimi "Poster Boy" Manuwa (15-1-0); as well as Jan Blachowicz (18-4-0) against Corey Anderson (5-1-0).
