UFC flyweight champion and pound-for-pound number 1, Demetrious Johnson, will have surgery on his shoulder on Wednesday. The dynamic champion looks set to be sidelined for a long time while he recovers from the operation, with no known date confirmed for his return in 2018.
Johnson had a stellar 2017, breaking Anderson Silva’s record for the most consecutive title defenses with a spectacular flying armbar victory over Ray Borg.
According to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, fans of the 31-year-old may be left in suspense for some time to hear of the UFC flyweight champ’s return:
UFC flyweight champ @MightyMouseUFC is undergoing shoulder surgery today. Timetable for return is TBD at this time.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 10, 2018
“That’s the plan, this year two fights,” Johnson said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “There comes a point in time, I was looking at my Wikipedia page and there were times where I fought four times in one year, I defended the belt three times in one year, got surgery between those title defenses. I think it’s safe to say that my goal is to get two title defenses this year and we will go from there.
“I’ll try to stay healthy and we will see then. You see champions all the time, they get the belt, then they go on a two-fight win streak and lose it. To be able to defend the belt from 2012 to 2017 and hopefully defend two more times in 2018, it’s extremely freaking hard.”
