In a very crowded UFC lightweight title picture, Michael Johnson is finally getting some of the spotlight. And he’s not afraid to make some bold predictions about his fellow 155-pounders who are on top.

We recently caught up with Johnson (16-8 MMA, 8-4 UFC), who defeated Edson Barboza in February for his fourth consecutive victory. It moved “The Menace” into the No. 10 spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings.

However, when looking at some of the names above him on the list, Johnson isn’t too impressed. He specifically pointed to new champ Rafael dos Anjos (24-7 MMA, 12-5 UFC), who was dominant in a UFC 185 title win over now-ex-champ Anthony Pettis (18-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) this past month.

“Dos Anjos definitely had a great game plan against him, and I don’t think Pettis recovered after that first big shot in the first round,” Johnson said. “But I think Pettis was a little bit exposed in that fight, and dos Anjos made the blueprint on how to beat him.”

Still, he’s not too impressed with the new titleholder.

“My hat’s to dos Anjos; he fought a great fight,” Johnson said. “But I don’t think he’s going to hold that title any time soon – he’s not going to have it that long. … If he’s still holding (the belt) by the time I get there, I’m definitely going to take it from him.”

Check out the full conversation, which includes his prediction for an upcoming UFC 187 title eliminator between Donald Cerrone (27-6 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.