It’s difficult for a fighter to capture the attention of UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson with an in-cage performance, much less impress him.

Henry Cejudo (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who challenges for Johnson’s (23-2-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) flyweight title at UFC 197, hasn’t met the lofty standards of “Mighty Mouse” in any of his four octagon appearances. However, that doesn’t mean he thinks Cejudo is an unworthy contender.

“It’s very hard to impress me,” Johnson told MMAjunkie. “The last time I was impressed in the octagon was when Conor (McGregor) knocked out Jose Aldo. It was slick, smooth. Conor vs. Nate (Diaz) was impressive. Miesha (Tate) vs. Holly (Holm) was impressive because they were finishes. Henry Cejudo’s been on a great run. I can’t complain too much – the guy’s been doing his thing and beating everybody, so what more can you ask for?”

UFC 197 takes place April 23 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. Johnson vs. Cejudo co-headlines the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Johnson, No. 2 pound-for-pound and No. 1 at 125 pounds in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, hasn’t been blown away with what No. 4-ranked Cejudo has done thus far, and he doesn’t expect that to change at UFC 197.

The 29-year-old plans to turn in a performance that will meet his own standards, though, which would keep in tone with basically every fight during his title reign. Johnson said he trains to execute, and if he can do that, he leaves the octagon satisfied.

“In those fights, I’ve always improved something,” Johnson said. “Submitting (Kyoji) Horiguchi at the last second showed patience. You can never get too complacent, even as champion. You need to go for the finish, and I did that. The first (John) Dodson fight was back-and-forth. It was a great competition between us. There was part of the fight where he was dropping me. There was part of the fight where I was taking it to him where he couldn’t handle it.”

The bout with Cejudo will mark Johnson’s chance to defend his title for the eighth consecutive time, tied for the third longest streak in UFC history. He’s fended off all challengers, but Johnson said “The Messenger” brings something different than what he’s experienced to this point in his career.

Cejudo’s Olympic background is the reason for that. At 21, he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Olympics to become the youngest American to ever accomplish the feat. Since then, Cejudo has slowly transitioned to MMA, grooming his individual skills to compliment his wrestling ability.

Even before Cejudo was signed to the UFC, he was pegged as a future threat to Johnson’s belt. Several years later, the matchup is reality. But Johnson said that doesn’t provide an extra edge of excitement or intensity.

“There’s no anticipation on my part,” Johnson said. “The mood going into this fight is similar to the last fight when I fought Dodson the second time. That was a huge anticipated rematch because the first match was pretty awesome. No anticipation from me. Any anticipation is just for me getting back in the octagon and fighting. Other than that, everything is good.”

One thing Johnson is looking forward too, though, is testing his skills against an athlete with the overall experience of Cejudo. As the UFC’s most dominant champion, Johnson has a well-rounded and complete skill set. He can fight at a high level in all areas, and said that wouldn’t change against Cejudo, even with his Olympic achievements in mind.

“Regardless what his background is with Olympic wrestling and having a gold medal, that doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “I’m going to use every ability in my arsenal to take it to my opponent. … I’ve faced a lot of different characters, and Henry Cejudo is no different. I’m ready to go in there and take it to him.”

Cejudo has attempted to make the fight with Johnson more personal by heaving verbal jabs at the champion. The challenger has said the UFC brass would like nothing more than for him to dethrone the “boring” champion and that Johnson is “scared” because he knows Cejudo has what it takes to shut him down.

Johnson brushed it all off, though, and in typical fashion, said he will provide his response to Cejudo when they share the octagon at UFC 197.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t bother me if he says I’m scared. On (April 23), the octagon will shut, I will make weight and we will get after it.”

For more on UFC 197, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.