Demetrious Johnson on PED use: 'I don't care if my opponents are cheating or not'

Demetrious Johnson doesn't care how many performance-enhancing drugs his opponents are pumping into their bodies, he's still confident that his hard work trumps their cheating.

"I don't care if my opponents are cheating or not," Johnson told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (via MMAFigthing). "I train my butt off to fight the man who is put in front of me whether he's on steroids or not. I want to play on a level playing field, but if they knew about it beforehand and didn't stop it, at the same time, I took care of business. No big deal."

The UFC flyweight kingpin ran roughshod over Ali Bagautinov during their five-round showdown at UFC 174 in June, dominating the over-matched Russian in all aspects of the game. Following the bout, it was revealed that "The Puncher King" failed a pre-fight drug screening, testing positive for erythropoietin (EPO).

"Who's to say if the EPO even affected his performance?" Johnson asked. "If you know he's on it, and you know what EPO does, who knows, maybe he would have gassed in the third round. In the fourth round I had his back and he was saved by the bell. Who knows? Third round. he could have been crazy gassed. We've watched his previous fights and by the third round he was gassed, but who knows? He still had some pep in his step come the third round."

"Mighty Mouse" doesn't have much time to lament the PED problem currently plaguing his sport, he's set to face streaking challenger Chris Cariaso at UFC 177 on Aug. 30.