Tag: Demetrious Johnson

ONE Championship Announces Fight For Title Vacated After Demetrious Johnson’s Retirement

ONE Championship has announced that on March 23 at ONE 172, the promotion will crown a new flyweight champion in the co-main event of the evening. The title has been left vacant ever since Demetrious Johnson announced his retirement at the Ball Arena in Denver this past September at ONE 168. Following several high stakes […]

ONE Championship has announced that on March 23 at ONE 172, the promotion will crown a new flyweight champion in the co-main event of the evening. The title has been left vacant ever since Demetrious Johnson announced his retirement at the Ball Arena in Denver this past September at ONE 168.

Following several high stakes contests at flyweight, the two top contenders that will battle for the gold have emerged. Brazil’s Adriano Moraes is a multiple time flyweight champion in ONE and was the inaugural holder of the title back in 2014. In his latest title reign, he ended his trilogy of fights with Geje Eustaquio before becoming the first man to finish Johnson in 2021 which kickstarted their trilogy of fights.

Moraes recently returned to the win column in Johnson’s absence by beating Danny Kingad at ONE 169 in November via a submission in the second round. “Mikinho” is now set to face off with Japan’s Yuya Wakamatsu who is sure to receive an incredible amount of support at the Saitama Super Arena on March 23.

Wakamatsu previously challenged Moraes for the flyweight title in 2022 at ONE: X where he was submitted in the third round. After suffering back-to-back defeats, “Little Pranha” has won three in a row including a dominant victory at the start of December over Gilbert Nakatani.

This huge card is set to be headlined by arguably the biggest fight in the history of the promotion as Rodtang Jitmuangnon faces off with Takeru Segawa in a kickboxing super fight that has been building ever since their matchup at ONE 165 earlier this year fell through due to an injury to the Thai superstar. There is sure to be a lot more top Japanese talent on the card for what will be ONE’s biggest event to date.

“I’m Not the Best Flyweight Anymore” Demetrious Johnson Responds to Pantoja’s Callout with Modesty

“I’m Not the Best Flyweight Anymore” Demetrious Johnson Responds to Pantoja's Callout with ModestyMighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson has officially responded to the callout issued by UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC…

“I’m Not the Best Flyweight Anymore” Demetrious Johnson Responds to Pantoja's Callout with Modesty

Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson has officially responded to the callout issued by UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310 and just says that he’s not the best anymore.

Demetrious Johnson Not the Best says ‘Mighty Mouse’

Former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson held onto the title for a record-setting 11 consecutive defenses before making the move to ONE Championship, where he continued to prove his dominance by winning the ONE Flyweight World Championship and retired earlier this year.

Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja captured the UFC Flyweight title in July 2023 by defeating Brandon Moreno and has since defended it successfully twice. He has been steadily establishing his own legacy in the flyweight division. After his last title defense at UFC 310, Pantoja called out ‘Mighty Mouse.’ Demetrious Johnson.

Dana White salutes Demetrious Johnson after retirement: 'I was defending him from the fans'

In response to Pantoja’s recent callout, Demetrious Johnson was unequivocal about his decision to retire. Speaking about his choice to leave the sport, ‘Mighty Mouse’ explained, “When I made that decision, that I don’t care to fight anymore, I gave myself a full-blown year, a full-blown-year, to see if I would miss it. And I didn’t miss it.” He emphasized that his decision to retire wasn’t about avoiding competition but about creating a more sustainable future for himself.

alexandre pantoja

‘Mighty Mouse’ continued:

“What I thought was more badass than being the best fighter in the world, I think it’s more badass to build an empire. If you’re an athlete and you are winning and you rely on the money you earn from winning, once you lose that fight half your pay is gone. Once any champion loses a fight, half their pay is gone. But that’s the beautiful thing that made me want to retire is that I don’t want to rely on my body or me being the best in the world in order to pay my bills.”

While acknowledging Pantoja’s impressive career, Johnson made it clear that he has no intention of returning to the sport. “I’m so happy for Alexandre Pantoja. I’m happy he just got his third title defense. I am not the best flyweight in the world anymore… And I’m happy to be retired. I ain’t going to be no Jose Aldo, I ain’t going to be no Donald Cerrone coming back to fighting. Ain’t no point to coming back to fighting.”

Fans will have to settle for watching Pantoja continue to build his legacy as the reigning UFC Flyweight Champion, while Johnson enjoys his well-deserved retirement.

Demetrious Johnson Reacts To Alexandre Pantoja’s Callout At UFC 310

It doesn’t appear that even the unstoppable Alexandre Pantoja can draw UFC flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson out of retirement. Pantoja further enhanced his legacy on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage this weekend, emerging victorious from the UFC 310 pay-per-view main event inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. Having begun his reign with successful defenses against Brandon […]

It doesn’t appear that even the unstoppable Alexandre Pantoja can draw UFC flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson out of retirement.

Pantoja further enhanced his legacy on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage this weekend, emerging victorious from the UFC 310 pay-per-view main event inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Having begun his reign with successful defenses against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg after dethroning Brandon Moreno in 2023, “The Cannibal” was dealt a unique challenge on Saturday night. Sharing the cage with him was a promotional newcomer in Kai Asakura.

The former Rizin bantamweight champion arrived with an impressive résumé and plenty of hype, and an early flying knee confirmed the Japanese star as an exciting addition to the division. But it wasn’t to be for Asakura in his debut, as he fell by way of submission to Pantoja in round two.

With that, Pantoja has firmly placed himself among the all-time greats and brought about some uncertainty over fresh opponent options in 2025. He proposed a solution to that during his Octagon interview, however, calling out “Mighty Mouse.”

Johnson — who enjoyed a record-breaking, six-year flyweight reign in the UFC before finding success in ONE Championship — was quick to react to “The Cannibal’s” comments, reiterating that he intends to stick to the retirement he announced at ONE 168 in Denver this past September.

“Guys I got offered 2 million dollars to fight!! I turned it down I don’t care to fight anymore YouTube video dropping soon,” Johnson wrote on X.

Of course, beyond just Johnson’s lack of interest in a comeback, there would be the small matter of his contractual situation with ONE, Asia’s largest martial arts organization. The likelihood of the promotion and its CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, releasing “Mighty Mouse” for a UFC return against Pantoja would appear extremely slim.

That hasn’t stopped fans getting behind Pantoja’s callout, though, with many pushing for the legendary former champ to make another walk to the cage in his illustrious career.

Demetrious Johnson & Ben Askren Agree ‘Everybody Won’ In UFC-ONE Championship Trade

In October of 2018, the MMA world was left stunned by a first of it’s kind trade that saw two big names in the sport switch promotions. The UFC gained the trash-talking and controversial Ben Askren with the promotion’s former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson going the other way and joining ONE Championship. From a basic […]

In October of 2018, the MMA world was left stunned by a first of it’s kind trade that saw two big names in the sport switch promotions. The UFC gained the trash-talking and controversial Ben Askren with the promotion’s former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson going the other way and joining ONE Championship.

From a basic view, it appears that ONE got the better of the deal. “Mighty Mouse” still had years of elite level competition in him after fighting for the last time in 2023 and during his time in the promotion, he produced some of their biggest moments, was a great ambassador for them and remained one of the greatest to ever do it.

However, though Askren would only fight three times inside the Octagon, he created a lot of interest for his two fights against Robbie Lawler and Jorge Masvidal in particular and though Johnson was loved by hardcore fans, he didn’t have that same draw that bringing Askren in created, even if it did only last a short time.

During a recent episode of Johnson’s MightyCast, he was joined by Askren as the two men spoke about the details of the trade and the time they spent in both promotions. The flyweight GOAT started off by outlining his thoughts on how it all played out which Askren quickly agreed with.

“My standpoint, I said everybody won. I got to go to ONE Championship, make good money. You got to come to UFC, get the opportunity to fight and see if you can do it there.”

With Johnson referencing those big fights and moments that Askren created during his time in the UFC, “Funky” then responded by talking about how ONE didn’t lose any of the interest that Askren brought to the table because at that point, he was already retired unless an opportunity like the UFC landed on his table.

“I mean ONE Championship, the thing that was golden for them is like I wasn’t gonna fight. I was done. If you stay in UFC, I’m assuming you’re going to continue to fight at least for a while until you don’t enjoy it enough to be done and in ONE Championship, I was legit done. I wasn’t fighting anymore and so they essentially sold an asset that was off market and you had a five-year run.”

Demetrious Johnson Breaks Down How Charles Oliveira Dominated Michael Chandler: ‘Almost A Checkmate’

After Michael Chandler’s attempt to pull a win out of the bag in the fifth round fell short, Charles Oliveira got his hand raised following a dominant performance in the co-main event at UFC 309. Prior to a chaotic end to the fight that had “Do Bronx” trying to survive, he won every round on […]

After Michael Chandler’s attempt to pull a win out of the bag in the fifth round fell short, Charles Oliveira got his hand raised following a dominant performance in the co-main event at UFC 309. Prior to a chaotic end to the fight that had “Do Bronx” trying to survive, he won every round on all three scorecards.

Just like in their first fight three years ago, the striking of Oliveira was very effective and at several points, it looked like he might finish Chandler for the second time. The difference this time around was that when the former lightweight champion had his opponent hurt or backed up to the fence, he implemented his grappling in order to avoid getting into a battle of wills with “Iron” Mike.

According to UFC Stats, Oliveira was successful with 5 of 12 takedown attempts, accumulating a total of 14 minutes and 52 seconds of control time which tells the story of this fight. A lot of that time was spent in a position that the Brazilian is a true master of as he consistently was able to take and control Chandler’s back.

In his post-fight breakdown on his YouTube channel, former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson gave his analysis of the lightweight contest that earned fight of the night honors. He specifically drew attention to the way that Oliveira was able to lock in a body triangle in order to dominate in these positions even if he was unable to find the submission.

“This is pretty much like almost a checkmate but it’s like a check because checkmate means end the game but it’s a check because one wrong move from here, Chandler getting choked out… Just a bad position for Michael Chandler to be in, very, very bad. It’s very, very f****** hard to get out of it especially your legs aren’t longer than your opponents. Trust me, I’ve been there before boys with somebody who’s way longer than me and I hate it.”

Demetrious Johnson Analyzes Whether UFC Or ONE Championship Got The Better Of His Trade

In October of 2018, a first of it’s kind deal would take place in the MMA landscape that would see two major names in the sport swap promotion. After losing his UFC flyweight title to Henry Cejudo, Demetrious Johnson was traded to ONE Championship. Former ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren went the other way in […]

Continue Reading Demetrious Johnson Analyzes Whether UFC Or ONE Championship Got The Better Of His Trade at MMA News.

In October of 2018, a first of it’s kind deal would take place in the MMA landscape that would see two major names in the sport swap promotion. After losing his UFC flyweight title to Henry Cejudo, Demetrious Johnson was traded to ONE Championship.

Former ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren went the other way in a switch that defined the final stages in the career of both men. Now that he is officially retired from MMA, announcing his decision at ONE 168 last month, Johnson reflected on this in a recent interview.

“Mighty Mouse” would go on to fight seven-times in ONE Championship’s flyweight division where he won the flyweight World Grand Prix and became the champion, defending his title once to close out his trilogy with Adriano Moraes before retiring.

He also competed in a first of it’s kind mixed-rules fight against Muay Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangnon at the promotion’s historic ONE X card back in 2022 which Johnson won via submission.

Askren, on the other hand, fought just three times in the UFC but produced two incredibly memorable moments when he submitting Robbie Lawler and was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal.

Johnson had always been underappreciated by the UFC in a lot of people’s eyes so despite the fact that he was still one of, if not, the best in the world, the move made sense for him at the time.

During his recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Johnson gave his detailed thoughts on which party got the better of the trade. He makes the case for why in some ways, both the UFC and ONE Championship got what they wanted out of the trade.

“I mean, it’s no doubt, you look at your boy, I was a f****** working horse. Working horse, the best in the world. Probably pound-for-pound if you didn’t count Jon Jones for skipping me and then, you know, I think Ben Askren was out, he was retired, and me and Ben Askren, we had him on the MightyCast, it’ll drop soon, and we talked about it. But I think when you look at like just money-wise, I think the UFC won because of how much more money they were able to generate and quote unquote from Dana White and those guys, I wasn’t making them any money. But, I think the sheer of just the f****** horse that ONE Championship got, I mean, if I wanted to, I could still fight.

“I don’t think Ben Askren could still fight. I could still fight if I truly wanted to, he can’t, and you look at the fights I was able to produce, the knockouts, the buzz that I was able to produce for ONE Championship, I mean it’s easy clear that they got the better athlete, the better fighter, but when it comes down to the money aspect of it, they probably won. But it’s what are you looking for? Are you looking to generate more money or are you looking to have the best athletes in the world? You want to have the best athletes in the world? They got my black a**.”  

Continue Reading Demetrious Johnson Analyzes Whether UFC Or ONE Championship Got The Better Of His Trade at MMA News.