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“The best fighter in the world right now? Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson.”
Demetrious Johnson might no longer compete in the UFC, but the former flyweight king is still considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by his contemporaries.
Johnson, who defended his UFC flyweight title a record breaking eleven times, left the UFC to sign with ONE Championship in 2018 and has gone on to capture the promotion’s flyweight title.
Johnson’s lone title defeat in the UFC came to Henry ‘Triple C’ Cejudo, who beat ‘Mighty Mouse’ via split decision in the UFC 227 co-main event. Cejudo has since gone on to capture the UFC bantamweight title, becoming the promotion’s first ever simultaneous flyweight and bantamweight champion.
Although Johnson never gained a mass following in the UFC, newly-minted UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya believes ‘DJ’ was the best fighter in the promotion and current pound-for-pound #1.
“The best fighter in the world right now? Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson,” Adesanya said on a recent edition of Ebro in the Morning, per Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA. “Unfortunately, he’s not in the UFC anymore but I don’t think he has anything to prove in the UFC.
“The guy, the way he operates at that weight class. He’s just so… [snaps fingers],” Adesanya added. “It’s just different. Some of the shit he did, like when he caught the guy with a suplex flying armbar. That was nuts. Who does that?”
Johnson has gone on a three-fight tear since signing with ONE FC last year and the MMA veteran will look to defend his newly-acquired flyweight title in the new year.