Demetrious Johnson Will Never Return To Fight In North America

Demetrious Johnson is drawing a line in the sand.

The record-breaking former UFC flyweight champion is currently awaiting his anticipated debut with Asia’s ONE Championship. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was ‘traded’ to ONE for their former welterweight champ Ben Askren last year. He had just lost his title, one he defended a record 11 consecutive times, to Henry Cejudo two months prior.

The trade prompted speculation that the UFC was dissolving their flyweight division for good. And they still might. But it’s still hanging around for now, as Cejudo defended the belt by knocking out TJ Dillashaw in a controversial 32-second bout at last weekend’s UFC on ESPN+ 1 from Brooklyn, New York. You might think that would get to Johnson, who has been in Japan filming promotional spots for ONE.

Quite the opposite is true, in fact.

Johnson told ESPN.com that he’s moved on from the UFC flyweight division. For him, it was never his but rather theirs. He believes he’s headed for bigger things, but he is happy for Cejudo and Dillashaw:

“It was never my division, it’s the UFC’s division. I’ve moved on to bigger and better things, in my opinion. I am legitimately happy for Henry Cejudo, TJ Dillashaw and the flyweight division. Once I became part of ONE Championship, that’s where my focus went. But I’m happy for the opportunity those guys got. They deserve it.”

A New Focus

“Mighty Mouse” then opened up about the differences between his new home in ONE and the UFC. The obvious difference was the current focus on over-the-top trash talk to sell pay-per-view buys in the UFC, something Johnson never excelled at. He says he never felt safe in the UFC. They were always threatening to dissolve the flyweight division, something he’s not worried about in ONE. He can simply focus on competing there:

“It’s not about trying to create drama over here,” Johnson said. “I always felt like in the UFC, your star power is based on how many pay-per-views you sell. When Dana White comes to you and says, ‘We’re thinking about getting rid of your division,’ and you’re on your ninth title defense, it kind of makes you wonder. But you never have to worry about that here. It’s a different vibe.

“When you’re not worried about selling a f—ing pay-per-view and just competing — and everyone is happy with it — that’s what it’s all about.”

Never Going Back?

Johnson wasn’t worried about the result of last weekend’s main event in Brooklyn. He didn’t watch the fight live, and his wife informed him of the result after the fight had ended. You might think he has some sort of bad blood with Cejudo based on the fact he took his title, but that’s not the case.

He owns a dominant win over “The Messenger” and Cejudo narrowly beat him by split decision at UFC 227 last August. But even though there’s no bitterness there, Johnson wouldn’t rule out a third bout with the current champion. It just won’t be in North America, because Johnson isn’t going back:

“At the end of the day, you never know what could happen,” Johnson said. “I’ll tell you what, though, I’ll never go back to North America. So the only way we’d compete against each other is if he came over here. It all depends on what happens in the UFC. A lot of things would have to fall in order, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”

Johnson will make his ONE Championship debut against Yuya Wakamatsu at March 31’s ONE: A New Era.

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