Johnson on Diaz: 'I'm just going to take his dignity away'

After a controversial split decision loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC Fight Night 73, Michael Johnson is getting right back up on the horse.

With his plans of a title shot temporarily derailed, Johnson had hoped to continue his quest back up the lightweight ladder against former champion Anthony Pettis, but ultimately settled on a bout against a returning Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 17 in December.

"Diaz is still tough," Johnson told MMAjunkie Radio, according to MMAjunkie.com's Steven Marrocco. "It's going to be a little bit more entertaining, I think."

Stylistically, a bout with Diaz is wildly different than a bout against Pettis, not only inside the cage, but in the lead up to the fight. Johnson is expecting a deluge of trash talk to spew from Diaz's mouth, something that likely wouldn't happen if he was squaring off with Pettis.

"He can't help but talk sh-t," Johnson said. "That's what he does. I don't have to hope that it's going to happen. I can't wait for him to start running his mouth. I'll egg him on a little bit."

From a rankings standpoint, Diaz signals a bit of a step down for Johnson, though he still needs to be wary about what the Stockton, Calif., bad boy brings to the cage.

"Regardless of his ranking, Nate is still one of the best lightweights in the world," Johnson said. "I'm not going to take that away from him - I'm just going to take his dignity away from him once we get in the cage."