Right after being announced as the next challenger to the UFC’s flyweight belt, Wilson Reis told MMAjunkie that one of his most valuable weapons against champ Demetrious Johnson was the fact he trained with the last guy to beat him.

That guy is none other than UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who defended the promotion’s 135-pound title with a unanimous decision win over Johnson in 2011, at UFC on Versus 6. Johnson hasn’t lost again since, going on to drop a weight class and become the promotion’s first and only flyweight champ.

Having done it once himself, Cruz (22-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is now committed to helping Reis (20-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) repeat history against Johnson (24-2-1 MMA, 13-1-1 UFC) .

“Demetrious Johnson is not unbeatable – if anyone knows that, it’s me,” Cruz told MMAjunkie. “He’s a very beatable individual. I beat him for five rounds straight. He didn’t win one round of that fight. I know how to beat him. I understand what you’ve got to do. And Wilson does, too.”

Reis and Johnson are set to co-headline UFC 201, which takes place July 30 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Reis has heavy odds to beat. Placed 9th in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, he’s gone 1-1 in his past two octagon outings. Johnson, in turn, goes into what will be his ninth title defense as the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, as well as holding the top spot at flyweight.

However, in Cruz’s eyes, Reis has one key advantage over the others who have failed at taking Johnson’s belt: self-confidence.

“I love that fight because there’s a lot of unknowns about Wilson,” Cruz said. ”I brought him to help me get ready for my first fight with Joseph Benavidez because he’s a short-statured fighter, with good explosive movement. And he has a good grappling game in general. He’s got good wrestling, good jiu-jitsu. And if you look at his striking, he keeps getting better training with us. We understand how to build a gameplan around his strengths.

“Wilson believes in himself. The first step is believing that Demetrious is beatable. And we all know that he is. A lot of these other guys go in there almost believing that they can’t. Wilson won’t go in there with that mindset. He’s going in there very confident. And he should, because he’s very tough to deal with.”

For more on UFC 201, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.