Johnson: I ‘accepted’ fight with TJ Dillashaw but got ‘injured’

“I accepted the fight, I got injured, I had surgery, and they never offered it to me after I got injured.”

Two-time UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw has been very vocal about Demetrious Johnson’s alleged refusal to accept a champ vs. champ superfight, claiming that ‘Mighty Mouse’ never ‘manned up’ to fight in April.

But, according to Johnson, who will compete alongside Dillashaw this Saturday at UFC 227, the reigning flyweight champ did originally accept the bout but got injured.

The No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter says the UFC lost interest in the matchup after his injury and never offered it again.

“I accepted the fight, I got injured, I had surgery, and they never offered it to me after I got injured,” Johnson said during Tuesday’s UFC 227 media conference call, per MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn. “When they offered it to me I accepted, I got injured and got surgery, and then when it came time to fight again, from my understanding, from my management’s point of view, T.J. got offered to fight Cody (Garbrandt) with a brand new deal, so God bless him for getting a new deal to fight Cody.

“So the entire lead-up to this fight, even in July, I was never offered to fight T.J. Dillashaw. Before I got injured I was up for fighting him, then they moved on and went with Cody and T.J.”

As Johnson said, Dillashaw will now rematch ex-teammate turned arch rival Cody Garbrandt in the UFC 227 main event, while Johnson will defend his flyweight title against Henry Cejudo in the co-main event.

If both men are victorious again on Saturday, there will undoubtedly be a rekindled interest and demand in seeing Johnson and Dillashaw square off in a superfight.

Johnson, 31, is still open to the idea so long as the money is right.

“If the money’s right,” he said. “I’ve always been up front about these super fights. Everyone keeps asking me. If the money’s not there and the compensation’s not there, then I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s obviously up to my management to make that happen. My management knows what I want, the UFC knows what I want and for me, I just show up and fight the No. 1 contender in the flyweight division and will continue to do that until something comes to my table that’s appetizing.”

After having knocked out Cejudo in a first-round blitz at UFC 197, Johnson will look to put the final nail in the coffin this Saturday at UFC 227. The undisputed champ is 3-0 in rematches.

“I’m sure he’s going to come out and try to show me something new, and I’m looking forward to it,” Johnson said. “I’ve had rematches before. This isn’t the first time. Taken on John Dodson twice and fought Joseph Benavidez twice. Obviously you have to fight a little different. It’s a brand new fight so whatever happened in the past is the past. I expect to see a newly minted Henry Cejudo and I’m going to go out there and test his skills.”

The pay-per-view extravaganza takes place Saturday, August 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.