The four-man field to crown the first UFC flyweight champion isn't the type of tournament that Demetrious Johnson is used to.

Like any fighter with a wrestling background, he's used to competition far more grueling than one that plays out over several months.

"I'm used to going into a 16-man bracket where it's like you weigh in and you've got 30 to 45 minutes to eat, and you're on the mat," Johnson told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "Get ready to go. So it's actually going to be nice."

The tournament kicks off March 4 at Sydney's Allphones Arena at UFC on FX 2. The event's main card airs live on FX while preliminary-card fights air on FUEL TV. Johnson (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) meets reigning Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champ Ian McCall (11-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) as one of the first offerings of the promotion's new 125-pound division. In the other bracket, Joseph Benavidez (15-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meets former Shooto champ Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

It's a modest start to a division that has yet to receive the attention it deserves. As a longtime bantamweight, Johnson has struggled as it is to get recognition as a lighter fighter, and like fellow tournament participant Benavidez, March's competition is a chance to start things off on a good foot.

"I would have had an eight-man tournament," Johnson said.

Or even a one-night tournament, he added. Training with Matt Hume in the Seattle area, Johnson prepared at one point for the possibility of fighting in PRIDE, where the semifinals and finals of eight-man tournaments were decided in one night. The danger of injury was greater, but so was the glory.

"Oh, yeah, I'll do that," he said. "It would have been fun to do that. It would have sucked, though, if I would have gotten hurt."

Johnson doesn't have to worry about that in the UFC. The promotion hasn't done a one-night tournament since its early days of no-holds-barred action and shows no signs of returning to the format. So he can breathe easy, in a sense.

"The awesome thing about this is I can weigh in a day before I fight, and then after I fight, I have two to three months to recover," Johnson said.

While McCall and Urushitani make their UFC debuts, Johnson and Benavidez have already fought in the UFC. Maybe because of that, or due to the former bantamweights' frenetic fighting styles, Johnson believes they are destined to meet.

"Everyone wants to see 'Mighty Mouse' vs. Joe [Benavidez], and hopefully, we can make it happen," he said. "We've got two great competitors in front of us, and we've just got to get through those guys and give the fans what they want."

That's no easy feat, though. McCall brings a four-fight win streak into the UFC and a significant amount of experience fighting at 125 pounds. Urushitani brings a five-fight streak that includes a win over the highly regarded Mamoru Yamaguchi and John Dodson.

So Johnson has got his work cut out for him. Thankfully, it's not one night's work.



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