'Nobody can beat the shadow, the Warrior in the Woods,' boasts UFC champ ahead of PUBG tourney

Demetrious Johnson, widely considered to be the best pound-for-pound UFC fighter in the world, reckons he could beat MMA icon Conor McGregor at PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. When he stars in Uproar's competitive PUBG tournament 'The Golden Chicken' next week, Johnson thinks he'll come out on top there too.

Alongside a host of popular YouTube talent, Johnson hopes to head home with a "10k Solid Gold Chicken" in tow, in what will be the athlete's second professional tourney.

"Oh, I'm very excited," Johnson tells me. "This is my second competition and this is one of my favourite games. I'm looking forward to it and I'm looking forward to go out there and kill everybody in the woods. Nobody can beat the shadow, the Warrior in the Woods."

This type of bravado is synonymous with the professional fighting world. But while Johnson has more than proven himself in The Octagon, he's relatively green when it comes to pro gaming. As the number one pound-for-pound UFC fighter in the world at present, I ask him if he reckons he's got what it takes to become the top chicken dinner winner of all time.

"Oh I don't know, that's a long shot. You've got some really great, really talented guys out there at the moment," he says. "You've got guys who're playing these games professionally, eight hours a day. Videogames for me are a release, I wish I could put that amount of time into it but I don't know if I could ever be better than them.

"What I will say is this: There's not another athlete out there that puts as many hours into the gym, and as many hours into videogames that's as good as me."

Uproar's The Golden Chicken PUBG tournament kicks off at 2pm PST/10pm BST on October 14. Look out for our full interview with Demetrious Johnson later this week.