Yesterday, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson created a stir when he released a statement speaking out against his treatment by the UFC, particularly, their attempts to “bully” him into accepting a fight against former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. He then went on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani where he went in depth into the threats leveled against him by the organization and Dana White, including threatening to shut down the entire division if Johnson didn’t acquiesce to their demands and fight Dillashaw.

With Johnson now in a very public feud with the UFC over a proposed title fight with Dillashaw, the former champion took to social media to comment, posting a message to his Instagram.

Afterwards, Dillashaw spoke with Brett Okamoto of ESPN to elaborate on his stance on the situation and why he thinks Johnson is refusing to fight him.

“I understand where he’s coming from with some of it but a lot of it was a slap in the face to me as well,” said Dillashaw. “Trying to say that I don’t really deserve a title shot which I think is complete bullcrap. I don’t think there’s anybody in his weight class right now to push him and I’m healthy, I’m in shape, I’m already in the process - because Dana told me that’s who I’m fighting - of dropping the weight class. I’m waking up at 143 pounds in the morning so that’s a very, very reachable goal.

“So for him to go and discredit my name and the things that I’ve accomplished just to not be worthy of a title shot kind of pissed me off a little bit. And it’s kind of embarrassing to have him go and call himself the GOAT, to be the greatest of all time and turning down fights because he’s scared to fight. He can say whatever he wants to say about all his other issues he has and being bullied - which, I don’t understand how the greatest of all time gets bullied - but it all comes down to him being scared of me beating him. He knows that I’m a bad matchup for him and that it’s a fight that he does not want.”

Dillashaw is the former UFC 135-pound champion. He was set to fight Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight belt on July 8 at UFC 213 but Garbrandt was forced to withdraw from the bout after sustaining a back injury. Instead of waiting for Garbrandt to get healthy, Dillashaw began campaigning for a flyweight title shot despite having never competed in the division. One of Johnson’s issues with fighting Dillashaw is this fact and the unnecessary risk it puts Johnson’s career in should Dillashaw miss weight. But Dillashaw considers this to be excuse making, saying that he will make the weight and that he’s even amenable to having Johnson take home his own guaranteed pay if he misses weight.

“I’m gonna make it. I have the utmost confidence. I know that I’m gonna make it. I’ve never missed weight once in my entire life or my career going from wrestling from eight years old through all my professional career. If I agree to do something, I’m doing it. I’m a very dedicated athlete and like I said, I’m already waking up at 143 pounds. That’s not big of a weight cut at all. I think it’s just an easy excuse.

“100 percent. Put that [stipulation] in there. I’m not gonna miss the weight. That’s not something I have to be worried about at all. I’ve already got it down to a perfect science of what I’m gonna be doing. So yeah, go ahead and put it in the contract because I’m not gonna miss weight.”

For his part, Dillashaw says a lot of his antagonization of Johnson is because he is frustrated with the situation. Recently, Johnson’s name has been included in the conversations about who is the greatest fighter of all time and Dillashaw sees this incident as a condemnation of all that praise.

“Don’t be scared. To me it’s like, you’re being a ***** about it. Tell the truth. You’re talking about how you don’t want to fight me for all these other reasons but really you don’t want to fight me because you’re scared. Guess what man, you’re the greatest of all time. Put it out there. This is gonna be a historical event for you to try to break your record, let’s make this the real deal. Let’s make it against an opponent that’s gonna sell some pay-per-views, that’s gonna be a big draw. It’s just frustrating to see him backpedalling from this and it’s embarrassing for the sport for the greatest of all time to be avoiding the fight the way he is.”

Aside from concerns about Dillashaw making weight, Johnson also aired grievances on a host of issues including the company’s failure to promote him as well as his relatively low pay, and while Dillashaw says he’s sympathetic to those issues, he also thinks a fight with him will solve most of Johnson’s problems. If the champion doesn’t take it, we shouldn’t consider him the GOAT anymore.

“I feel like him fighting me will be able to fix a lot of his problems. He will get a pay-per-view cut. He’s actually gonna make the paychecks he’s earned. He is pound-for-pound best fighter in the world right now, and I think this is the fight to get him paid.

“If he doesn’t step up I think a lot of people are gonna have to put an asterisk next to his record of beating Anderson Silva’s streak as well as being called the greatest of all time. I really think it’s kind of a chickens**t move to bail out of this fight.”

MUST-READ STORIES

Bullying. Demetrious Johnson says the UFC’s “bullying” has forced him to speak out against the company.

To wit. Demetrious Johnson says the UFC threatened to fold the flyweight division if he didn’t fight T.J. Dillashaw.

Game plan. Jose Aldo’s coach explained why Aldo didn’t use leg kicks at UFC 212.

Comeback. Jose Aldo released a statement on loss to Max Holloway.

36 years. War Machine gets 36 years in prison for sexual assault of girlfriend Christy Mack.

Crock of s**t. Mark Hunt rails against “cheater” Alistair Overeem’s use of an IV before UFC 209 fight.

VIDEO STEW

DJ’s interview with Ariel is must-watch.

A look at the UFC performance institute.

Ricky Hatton on the Matt Serra retirement life.

Since it’s in the news, let’s remember some of the times Dana threw his champions under the bus. Heck of a promoter.

LISTEN UP

Co-Main Event. Demetrious Johnson and UFC 212 discussion.

Brit Pack. UFC 212 discussion and a UFC Fight Night preview.

Severe MMA. UFC 212, Cage Warriors 84, and UFC Auckland preview.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Jose’s statement.

Homecoming king.

Now THAT'S a homecoming‼️ Hawaii welcomes their NEW featherweight champ @BlessedMMA & @YMedeiros home today ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QDCms20UIY — UFC (@ufc) June 6, 2017

This would be a great fight and a completely reasonable way to handle things if MMA weren’t a total clownshow.

If the fight w/ DJ & TJ doesn't fall thru. I'll introduce TJ to @ufc Flyweight division @danawhite . make the flyweight div. great again — Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) June 5, 2017

Appropriate reaction to DJ.

I've always had the utmost respect for @MightyMouseUFC, and I have even more after today. — Brandon Gibson (@SixGunGibson) June 5, 2017

This a cut throat business and the image that all you fans have on how things work is 100% wrong. — Ray Borg (@tazmexufc) June 5, 2017

Might not have a job after all this but I'm glad somebody spoke up. https://t.co/D3Nkzmbb4K — Ben 10 Nguyen (@Ben10MMA) June 5, 2017

Although I really would like to see DJ vs TJ, they're doing,one of the best ever, a huge disservice treating him & the division this way https://t.co/FSYfStYMrY — Zachary Makovsky (@ZachFunSize) June 5, 2017

No BS, props to Tito for this.

.@ChuckLiddell you are correct I was wrong with my reply.I said something that night after the pic was posted on pure emotion. #MyBad — Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) June 5, 2017

Would. Watch.

Damn. Daggers.

나는 언제든지 이렇게 다칠수 있는 일을 하는 사람입니다. 나도 수없이 많은 동료들을 다치게 했습니다. 그러니 나를 다치게 한 그 친구를 원망하지 않습니다. 내 실력이 부족해서 그렇다는걸 압니다. 많이 배웁니다. 그리고 이 일로, 내 경기를 기다려주시는 분들이 많다는걸 다시 알게 됐습니다. 미안합니다. 더 튼튼해져서 돌아오겠습니다. A post shared by 정찬성 (@koreanzombiemma) on Jun 4, 2017 at 9:23pm PDT

Sakuraba’s response to the Hall of Fame.

Well one Cleveland champ will have a successful title defense at least.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2003: Randy Couture kicked over the applecart and upset Chuck Liddell to claim the interim UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 43. With the win, Couture became the first fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight divisions.

2009: Jake Shields submitted Robbie Lawler with a first round guillotine choke in the main event of Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.

2015: Dan Henderson knocked out Tim Boetsch in the main event of UFC Fight Night 68.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Well yesterday was exciting. DJ seems to have finally had it with the UFC and frankly, I’m fully in the DJ camp here. DJ may not be Conor McGregor but he’s promotable. The problem is, the UFC can’t promote anyone outside of there one way to do anything which is basically “LOUD NOISES.” There are a ton of marketing companies which could probably work with DJ to effectively brand him but Dana White is gonna stay on his Affliction branded hill until the day he dies. Also, if you’re one of the few people who looked at this story and thought “DJ came off the worse there” you should stop and reevaluate. DJ and Mick Maynard are the only people who came off looking like real humans and not cartoonish ghouls.

Oh, and for TJ’s claim that DJ will be the money fight for him, TJ has headlined two pay-per-views for the UFC, UFC 173 and UFC 177 which drew 215,000 and 125,000 respectively. I doubt PPV points even kick in on buyrates that low.

That’s all for today y’all. Take it easy and Conor bless.

If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy it.