"DJ's still the GOAT" - Reece McLaren on a potential Demetrious Johnson contest

Reece McLaren knows there’s only one man fit to be called the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, and that is Demetrious Johnson.

McLaren has a scheduled match against China’s Xie Wei at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on June 3 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Despite his preparations, ‘Lightning’ will always have time to proclaim Johnson as the greatest of all time.

Several fighters can lay claim to being the MMA GOAT like Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, and many others. McLaren, however, believes that Johnson should be the one above everyone else.

In an interview with South China Morning Post’s Tom Taylor, McLaren said fighting Johnson would be the biggest moment of his career.

He pointed out that apart from a chance at the ONE flyweight world title, which Adriano Moraes currently has possession of, a fight against Johnson would be the pinnacle.

Reece McLaren said:

“In my head, he’s still the biggest, besides the champ obviously, I feel DJ is still the GOAT pound-for-pound everything. I feel like he’s number one.”

Johnson is the No.1-ranked contender in ONE Championship’s flyweight division while McLaren is at No. 5. A fight between the two isn’t that too far out and a potential bout between them is sure to shake up the division.

Before heading over to ONE Championship, ‘Mighty Mouse’ ran roughshod in the UFC, becoming the promotion’s first flyweight world champion. He then defended that strap a record 11 times.

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Reece McLaren wants another match with Danny Kingad

Reece McLaren nearly fought Johnson back in 2019 if not for Danny Kingad.

McLaren and Johnson were on opposite sides of the bracket for the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix and a semifinal win would’ve afforded the Australian grappler the chance to take on the MMA GOAT.

Kingad, however, beat McLaren via split decision and went on to face Johnson in the finals of the Grand Prix.

While it has been three years since that match against Kingad, McLaren said he wants another crack at the Filipino star.

Kingad is ranked No. 4 in the flyweight rankings and a win for McLaren, if ever they do fight each other, will be a huge step for him to enter the title picture.

Before a potential rematch, though, McLaren will first have to deal with Xie in his return to the Circle.

“I’m not here to stand in line, I want to get through this one and I’d love my rematch with Danny who I think was ranked no.2 [no.4] now, I think he slipped and then fast track it to the title if I get two dominant wins, I can’t see them not lining that up.”