Benavidez eager to claim first UFC flyweight title
By BOB EMANUEL JR. | Scripps Howard News Service
Joseph Benavidez knows the opportunity to claim a title in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is rare. The possibility of being first to etch one’s name in the official record book is even rarer.
On Sept. 22, Benavidez will try to do both when he faces Demetrious Johnson for the UFC’s first-ever flyweight championship in the co-main event of UFC 152 in Toronto.
“Obviously, that’s why I’m in this sport, to win the title,” Benavidez said. “That’s why I work so hard to leave this legacy. Now it’s even more. I get to be the first-ever flyweight champion. I’m going to be the George Washington of flyweight champions. No one remembers the second or third president, but you know the first ever. It’s pretty exciting.”
Earlier this year, the UFC announced plans for an eighth title. To crown the first champion in the flyweight (125-pound) division, the promotion organized a four-man tournament with Benavidez, Johnson, Ian McCall and Yasuhiro Urushitani. Benavidez defeated Urushitani in March, but — due to a scoring error — was forced to wait an additional three months to learn his opponent. Johnson’s initial win over McCall was changed to a draw in March, and Johnson won the subsequent rematch to advance in June.
“It’s definitely been tough,” said Benavidez, 28. “A break is always good after a fight, but when it turns into a waiting period, it gets pretty annoying, having to wait, knowing these guys get to fight, get the promotion, get paid again. That can get a little frustrating. When you’re in a situation like this, you just have to find the positives out of it.”
The primary benefit for Benavidez was the natural progression of his overall skills during the extended break.
“I used it as time to get better,” he said. “We would have fought in June. I’m going to be a lot better in September if I keep training than I would have been in June. So I just used it as time to get better. It’s kind of great when you don’t have a certain opponent. I’m always training, but when I don’t have an opponent, I can concentrate on different things. When I get an opponent, I kind of just dial it in for him.”
Knowing his next opponent would be either McCall or Johnson, Benavidez was able to do some basic advance scouting. He did not train specifically for either opponent, however, preferring to let his own abilities rise to the forefront.
“I’m an offensive fighter anyway, so I don’t like to go in and necessarily see what my opponent does good,” said Benavidez, 16-2. “I like to see where he’s going to be open, where he’s going to be vulnerable. I don’t want to worry about him too much. I want to make him worry more about me. The way I look at it, if I’m good at everything — if I can throw hands, kicks, punches, jiu-jitsu, submissions and wrestling — then I’m going to be comfortable anywhere so I don’t have to worry about what he does. I just have to go in there and react and fight like I was born to do.”
Johnson, 26, will appear in his second UFC championship fight in as many years. Johnson made his debut with the UFC in 2011 and won his first two fights to earn an October fight against UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who prevailed with a unanimous decision.
“He’s going to be an outstanding opponent,” Benavidez said of Johnson, 15-2-1. “I always admired his fighting style … I really don’t think there’s a faster fighter or really just a more fluid fighter in the UFC than him.
“It’s going to be a pleasure to fight him and go in there and solve him and his rhythm and his speed. You definitely have the two best 125-pounders in the world, and it’s going to be a battle for the ages. I’m just pumped that I get to go in and make history with a guy I respect so much as a person and a fighter.”
