Demetrious Johnson made it clear that he has moved on from the UFC flyweight division and is only focused on his new chapter in Asia’s ONE Championship.
Last weekend’s UFC Brooklyn not only marked the promotion’s first event of the ESPN era, but also the first flyweight title fight not involving Demetrious Johnson.
In the main event, Henry Cejudo defended his 125-pound title for the first time against bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw, knocking Dillashaw out in 32 seconds. Cejudo’s upset win in the superfight followed an August 2018 victory over Johnson, who’d held the flyweight belt since the opening of the division in 2012.
Since Johnson dropped the title, the UFC traded “Mighty Mouse” to Asian promotion ONE Championship for Ben Askren, who debuts in the promotion later this year.
Johnson said in an interview with ESPN he was happy for Cejudo, but otherwise had few thoughts about what it was like watching two men fight for what he held for so long. It is fair to say that Johnson has moved on from his former home and is solely focused on his new endeavor.
“It was never my division, it’s the UFC’s division,” Johnson said. “I’ve moved on to bigger and better things, in my opinion. I am legitimately happy for Henry Cejudo, T.J. 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.”
Johnson has cited the way MMA works in the West as a big reason he left the UFC for ONE Championship. Many would argue Johnson was never promoted as heavily as deserved during his time as flyweight champ.
Johnson said he’ll never fight in North America again, but that he will always be open to a trilogy match against Cejudo. Johnson beat Cejudo in an April 2017 title defense by first-round TKO.
“At the end of the day, you never know what could happen,” Johnson said of a third fight with Cejudo. “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.”