Demetrious Johnson's office ain't a UFC Octagon anymore, but "Mighty Mouse" is still the greatest MMA fighter walking the planet according to fellow fighter John Dodson, who fought DJ twice.
And, that's coming from Jon Jones' former teammate!
TMZ Sports talked to 37-year-old Dodson -- fresh off running through his first BKFC opponent (more on that later) -- when the convo turned to Johnson's greatness following his ONE Championship title win over the weekend ... where DJ avenged his 2021 loss to Adriano Moraes, winning back his flyweight title.
"To be honest with you, I put him above Jon Jones and I know Jon Jones is my teammate and training partner... I'm not saying it because he beat me, but Demetrius Johnson is the most well-rounded mixed martial artist that the world has seen."
Dodson continued ... "He's the only one I've known that's combined it so well between his wrestling, striking and also in his jiu-jitsu. He's been so creative with how he gets submission, how he wants to go and finish people and he's just a very intelligent fighter."
Dodson would know ... he's spent 50 minutes inside a locked cage with Johnson, whom he fought two times, losing both by decision. The first was at UFC on FOX 6 in January 2013. The second was at UFC 191 in September 2015.
Of course, many people believe Jones -- who only has one career loss (a BS DQ vs. Matt Hamill in 2009) -- is the greatest ever.
Jon, among so many career achievements, was the youngest UFC champ ever at the age of 23.
We also talked to John about his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship -- where he destroyed Ryan Benoit by 1st round knockout -- a bout that Dodson says rejuvenated his career.
Even when you slow it down I'm still just to fast #speedkills #striking #boxing #bkfc #knuckleup #TeamDodsons pic.twitter.com/sdqnEHPP4b
— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) August 29, 2022
"It feels amazing, man. To tell you the truth, it's more surreal than anything else. I feel a new breath of life coming into this," John says.
"I want to let everybody know I'm still the king of the flyweight division."
Could there be a third fight between Dodson and Johnson ... in a bare-knuckle ring? Dodson is down.
"Wooo! If Demetrious wanna do some bare-knuckle, let me know. We can knuckle up any day of the week. I'll sit there and go toe to line with him. I know I ain't backing up and he already know, I hit hard as -- well I ain't gon' say the rest of it, but you know what I'm thinking!"