Demetrious Johnson Won’t Be Take Part In Trash Talk

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Demetrious Johnson (22-2-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) said no matter what kind of pressure he gets to do otherwise, he’s not going to start trash-talking his opponents. He will fight John Dodson (17-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at UFC 191 this Saturday. Dodson has not been shy about taking shots at Johnson. Here are highlights:

On if there has been pressure to trash other fighters: “There has not been pressure. But some media outlets come to me and say, ‘If I told you that you could retire with $1 million or $15 million what would you do? What would you want to retire with?’ And, obviously the $15 million. And he goes, ‘Why don’t you start talking sh-t?’ And, it doesn’t seem – I don’t want to start doing it. It’s just something I’m not into. I don’t know.”

On why he doesn’t do it: “It’s not my thing. If I was talking trash about something – So, it’s like, if you beat that person, what does it make you? That doesn’t make sense. For me it just doesn’t make sense. I’m a grown a– man. That’s high school sh-t.”

On the rise of social media in MMA: “Social media is a platform to give people a voice when they don’t need a voice in your life. If I never had social media, no Twitter – I’m debating closing my Twitter and my Instagram. I might keep my Instagram because I see cool things on there. But there’s no reason for me to have social media. There’s literally no reason for it. If you need to get ahold of me, you either have my number or you call Dana White and he’ll give you my number if you validate it. Other than that, I see no reason why I need social media.”