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Former UFC Champion Demetrious Johnson Explains Why MMA Is ‘So Much Easier’ Than Jiu-Jitsu

MMA great Demetrious Johnson has taken a step back from the sport that he made his name in as of late. Despite still being the flyweight titleholder in ONE Championship, he has become completely focused on competing in jiu-jitsu, which was always something he wanted to do toward the end of his career. Johnson has […]

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MMA great Demetrious Johnson has taken a step back from the sport that he made his name in as of late.

Despite still being the flyweight titleholder in ONE Championship, he has become completely focused on competing in jiu-jitsu, which was always something he wanted to do toward the end of his career.

Johnson has been able to stimulate himself by learning to compete in grappling tournaments in the gi having never focused on this area in the past.

He’s already achieved some great success at the brown belt level and was recently promoted to a black belt following his dedication to grappling.

In fact, Johnson isn’t just swapping his MMA training for jiu-jitsu, he believes that his new pursuit is even harder…

Demetrious Johnson Says The Techniques & Specific Preparation Makes MMA Easier Than Jiu-Jitsu

During a recent appearance on the Unsubscribe Podcast, Johnson explained his reasoning for believing MMA is easier than competing in jiu-jitsu.

“Mighty Mouse” thinks the intricacies of training and competing in the gi specifically makes it much harder to adapt to or avoid certain difficult positions that require a lot of practice.

“Fighting (MMA) is so much easier than jiu-jitsu… Gi is a lot harder. No gi is f***ing easy, in my opinion,” Johnson said. “Because like, If I’m going with Kody and let’s say he has some form of curriculum in the gi, if he grabs me, I have to break his grip. He’s attached to me, we become one. In no gi, I can just push him and create space and move.

“If I put him in like, a Lasso, or a Worm, or a Squid guard and he’s never been exposed to it, he’s like, ‘What the f*ck is this!?’”

Johnson also said that another part of his reasoning is the difference in how fighters must prepare to compete in the two sports.

He believes that being given a specific opponent in MMA that can be studied and preparation catered for for makes everything a lot easier to plan and predict. That’s compared to stepping into a tournament against multiple unknown competitors.

“The unknown sucks. It’s like, ‘Okay, I’m going to a tournament with 30 motherf*ckers.’ I don’t know what you’re going to do. It is what it is, we’re gonna run it and see what happens. (MMA) is like, ‘Okay, I’m fighting you, I have three months to prepare for you. I can watch all this tape on you. I know what your tendencies are, I know what your mistakes are, I know what you’re strong at. Alright, light work, easy.’”

Read More: Former ONE Championship Strawweight King Jarred Brooks Names Jon Jones As The Perfect Fighter

Continue Reading Former UFC Champion Demetrious Johnson Explains Why MMA Is ‘So Much Easier’ Than Jiu-Jitsu at MMA News.

UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja dreams of one day fighting P4P great Demetrious Johnson

UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja dreams of one day fighting P4P great Demetrious Johnson Whether it’s in the Octagon or at the gym, Alexandre Pantoja hopes he’ll have the chance to fight Demetrious…

Whether it’s in the Octagon or at the gym, Alexandre Pantoja hopes he’ll have the chance to fight Demetrious Johnson one day.

Considered by many to be the greatest flyweight of all time and one of the P4P best fighters in MMA history, ‘Mighty Mouse’ holds just about every major record in the UFC’s 125-pound weight class. During his reign at the top of the division from 2012 to 2018, Johnson scored 11 consecutive title defenses and is a nine-time performance bonus winner, taking home an extra 50k for his work against the likes of John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez, Kyoji Horiguchi, Henry Cejudo, and Ray Borg.

So it should come as no surprise that ‘DJ’ is at the top of Pantoja’s list of dream fights.

“That’s a dream fight for me, of course,” Pantoja told Ike Feldman of Give Me Sport. “I’ll wait for him. Maybe we can fight in the UFC or maybe I can go to the gym and we can fight together, but that’s someone I want to train [with], fight [with], or something like that. I’ve had the chance to train his Henry Cejudo, trained with [Marlon] Moraes, and I miss Demetrious Johnson. I hope this can happen one day.

“That would be pretty huge for me. I respect the GOAT. I think I’m too far from his legacy, but I try to do my best every day.”

UFC Flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja looks in the camera and says his dream fight is vs. the GOAT @MightyMouse !!! pic.twitter.com/DIwrW59xdL

— Ike Feldman (@IkeFeldman) June 28, 2024

Alexandre Pantoja will have to head to ONE Championship if he wants a piece of ‘Mighty mouse’

Pantoja, of course, is the UFC’s reigning flyweight world champion, having dispatched fan favorite Brandon Moreno to capture the crown in July 2023. Since then, ‘The Cannibal’ has bagged two title defenses, defeating Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg in his last two outings.

Unfortunately, if Pantoja ever hopes to score a fight with Demetrious Johnson, he’ll likely have to jump ship to ONE Championship, the promotion that ‘Mighty Mouse’ currently calls home.

After dropping the flyweight title to ‘Triple C’ at UFC 227, ‘DJ’ was shipped off to ONE in exchange for former Bellator and ONE world champion Ben Askren. Upon arrival in the Singapore-based organization, Johnson scored three straight wins en route to his first ONE flyweight MMA title opportunity against then-champion Andriano Moraes. Johnson came up short in their first meeting but bounced back 16 months later, finishing Moraes in their ONE on Prime Video 1 rematch with a highlight-reel flying knee knockout.

Johnson closed out his first career trilogy against Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 in The Mile High City—Denver, Colorado—landing a decisive decision victory to retain the title and take the series 2-1.

Though Johnson has left the door open for a return to MMA, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is closing in on retirement, but remains active in the world of combat sports, regularly competing and taking home gold at various IBJJF grappling tournaments around the country.

P4P great Demetrious Johnson shares his unfiltered thoughts on Paul vs. Tyson: ‘I’m not here for a circus’

Demetrious Johnson is not a fan of Jake Paul fighting Mike Tyson. Tyson and Paul were originally scheduled to…

Demetrious Johnson is not a fan of Jake Paul fighting Mike Tyson.

Tyson and Paul were originally scheduled to face each other inside the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, July 20. However, their highly anticipated clash was postponed after Tyson experienced a medical emergency during a cross-country flight last month. Fortunately, the incident was attributed to nothing more than an ulcer flare-up. Still, Tyson was forced to take a break from training, prompting promoters to push the fight from this summer to November 15.

Johnson, on the other hand, thinks they should just scrap the whole thing altogether, or at the very least, find an opponent for ‘The Problem Child’ who isn’t 30+ years his elder.

“He’s 58 years old,” Johnson said of Tyson during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “I don’t know what his health history is, and I think the biggest thing is you have someone who is 58 years old trying to push his body to the absolute limit, moving. I don’t know if he’s sparring or anything like that. I love Jake Paul, I just think there are so many f*cking boxers out there that he can fight and build, pad his record with. I understand Mike Tyson is a big name and Netflix wants to do it, but I don’t think they should revisit it.

“There are plenty of guys out there that Jake Paul could fight. KSI is one of them. He could fight T-Wood [Tyron Woodley] again. He could fight Mike Perry, ‘Platinum.’ He could fight Jorge Masvidal. There are so many guys! He could fight Anthony Pettis. There are so many guys who are younger than Mike Tyson but a little bit older than him that he can beat and have a big name.

“But I just think him fighting Mike Tyson, the guy is 58. I don’t want to see Mike Tyson get hurt. For what? … This is the stupidest f*cking thing that’s happening right now. You’re telling me there is literally nobody out there that can fight Jake Paul that’s his age, that is 8-0 as a boxer?” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Tyson is one of the biggest names in the history of boxing, amassing a 50-6 record with 44 of his wins coming by way of knockout over the course of his two-decade-long career. Along the way, he captured the undisputed heavyweight world championship, carrying the crown from 1987 to 1990.

‘Kid Dynamite’ returned to the boxing ring in 2020 for an exhibition bout with fellow legend Roy Jones Jr., but the clash with Paul will be his first professional boxing match since a 2005 loss to Kevin McBride.

“If they want something that’s big, get a very good boxer that’s really good and have [Paul] fight him,” Johnson argued. “His skills should sell enough. I’m not here for a f*cking circus. I’m here for, are you legit or not? Fight a legit boxer who is 8-0.

“Let’s have a legit boxing promoter like Eddie Hearn give us somebody. ‘Hey, who do you think would be a good fight for Jake Paul? Who?’ Ask Eddie Hearn that and see if he can get the guy to sign on the dotted line and have a fight.”

Demetrious Johnson has the perfect opponent in mind for jake paul

So if Demetrious Johnson doesn’t want to see ‘The Problem Child’ throw hands with Tyson, who would be a suitable opponent? Well, ‘Mighty Mouse’ has the perfect candidate in mind: current BKFC star and the King of Violence, ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.

Demetrious Johnson wants to see Paul vs. Perry

“One of the things Mike Perry does very well is he puts a lot of damage on his opponents with bare knuckles,” Johnson said. “With those gloves, I don’t know if he can do the same type of damage, because cutting someone in the face and all that stuff, I don’t think he could do that. But I would watch.

“I’m more excited to see Mike Perry vs. Jake Paul in a boxing match. Netflix, f*cking sign it. Mike Perry vs. Jake Paul. … That’s a way better-selling fight than Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Let Mike Tyson enjoy his retirement. Don’t bring that man back to fighting. Let him enjoy the rest of his life and let Mike Perry and Jake Paul fight.”

Paul and Perry have teased a potential clash for some time with ‘Platinum’ even serving as the backup for Paul’s fight with former UFC star Nate Diaz last summer. Recent rumors suggest that a date has been discussed for what feels like an inevitable showdown between the two, though no announcements have been made.

P4P legend Demetrious Johnson believes boxing has been far more exciting than MMA this year

P4P great Demetrious Johnson believes boxing is much more exciting than what’s going on in the world of mixed…

P4P great Demetrious Johnson believes boxing is much more exciting than what’s going on in the world of mixed martial arts these days.

Over the last several months, fans of the sweet science have been treated to a plethora of noteworthy clashes, starting with Francis Ngannou’s sophomore appearance inside the squared circle, followed by a stunning scrap between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.

And, of course, you can’t talk about boxing without mentioning the 12-round war between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

Meanwhile, in MMA we’ve got Conor McGregor out partying six weeks ahead of his long-awaited return, Jon Jones refusing to fight Tom Aspinall, and Ronda Rousey still crying about a decade-old loss.

Speaking with The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani on his MightyCast podcast, ‘Mighty Mouse’ suggested that there is much more to be intrigued with in boxing than anything the UFC or PFL is putting out.

“Right now I feel like boxing is more exciting than mixed martial arts,” Johnson said. “There are points in time when mixed martial arts is having its peak, but right now you just have Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney. Then you got Francis Ngannou who just got knocked out by Anthony Joshua and we had Tyson Fury vs. [Oleksandr] Usyk where Usyk just beat him and became the [undisputed] heavyweight champion. That fight was absolutely amazing from round one to round 12. I was on the edge of my seat.”

“Right now, we’re sitting here waiting for… in ONE Championship we got a couple of things like Kade Ruotolo making his debut in MMA, but I think the story we’re waiting for in MMA is Islam [Makhachev] taking on Dustin Poirier.”

Though Demetrious Johnson isn’t wrong, there’s still plenty in MMA to be excited about

Demetrious Johnson certainly has a point, but that’s not to say the UFC hasn’t put out anything to be excited by over the last several months. We’re a mere six weeks removed from the promotion’s landmark event in Las Vegas that delivered us Max Holloway’s insane buzzer-beating KO against Justin Gaethje and Alex Pereira’s viral finish of Jamahal Hill.

In June we’ve got the UFC’s debut in Saudi Arabia featuring the return of undefeated Chechen monster Khamzat Chimaev and Conor McGregor’s welterweight showdown with Michael Chandler at UFC 303 which, according to Dana White, has already smashed the record for highest gate in promotional history.

Demetrious Johnson echoes claims Anthony Joshua could beat Francis Ngannou in MMA: ‘It’s an easy fight’

Demetrious Johnson once said that he believes Anthony Joshua could beat Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight and is…

Demetrious Johnson once said that he believes Anthony Joshua could beat Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight and is standing by his statement.

Just a few months ago, Joshua and Ngannou went toe to toe in a boxing match at an event called “Knockout Chaos”. Things went pretty badly for the former UFC heavyweight champion, as Joshua would make easy work of him and put him away in the second round with a vicious overhand right.

Ngannou’s performance inspired some controversial takes, and Demetrious Johnson made waves when he claimed that he could see ‘AJ’ defeating the former UFC star inside the octagon. Now, in a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Johnson is sticking by his opinion and breaking it down for the media and fans alike.

Demetrious Johnson defends his Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou take

“It’s not like Francis is some world-class kickboxer,” Johnson told Ariel Helwani. “You look at all Francis fights; he does have some submission wins, he does have somewhere he takes somebody down.”

“But if I can take a guy like Anthony Joshua, who is an athletic specimen, who understands range and distance, and I train him for six months — six months — to defend a takedown, check the leg kick, and just box. You’re not going to have 16-ounce gloves. The distance doesn’t change at all. … So if I can take somebody who is athletic, which Anthony Joshua is athletic, it’s an easy fight.”

According to Demetrious Johnson, Joshua’s advantage is due to the stylistic matchup between the two men. Johnson feels that Ngannou doesn’t have the style to pose an impossible challenge to ‘AJ’, and other heavyweights definitely do have a style that would present major issues to the boxing phenom.

Demetrious Johnson still unsure on retirement from MMA I have to be passionate UFC — Mandatory Credit: ONE Championship

“Now, here’s the flip side: How would it go against Anthony Joshua vs. Jon Jones? Different animal,” Johnson said. “Jon Jones would go out there and force the clinch. He would go out there and force the wrestling exchange. Maybe Francis Ngannou would do that, but I don’t think Francis would do that. From the years I’ve seen him fight, that’s how I view that fight. I’m not saying Francis is going to get destroyed, but I do believe [Joshua] has a chance of beating him because he just knocked him the f*ck out in a boxing match!”

“Francis has been very successful in the boxing world in MMA,” Demetrious Johnson continued. “He boxes people. When he beat Stipe Miocic, yes, he threw some leg kicks. That’s very easy to manage. It’s not like an Edson Barboza legkick. But he and Stipe were going back and forth. Stipe actually rocked him.”

“I would go on to say Anthony Joshua is a better boxer than Stipe Miocic. Not a better MMA guy, but in mixed martial arts, I say it all the time: MMA is the easiest sport to become a world champion in. It truly is. you have people who are very good at one thing and have so many holes and deficiencies in their game.”

Francis Ngannou’s coach weighs in on the Demetrious Johnson take

Francis Ngannou’s own coach, Eric Nicksick, wasn’t even very optimistic about the thought of an MMA bout between his star pupil and Anthony Joshua. Nicksick actually agreed with much of Johnson’s sentiments about the situation and even lent his own analysis.

“There were things I think we needed to do better,” Nicksick said. “So if this was an MMA fight, what did we see anecdotally that would have changed that same outcome if it was in MMA? We would have gotten slept, whether it was four-ounce gloves or not.”

“So it tells me we have to show the element of level change, we have to kick the lead leg out, we have to do other things to keep the distance, cut the cage off, and then blast-double that motherf*cker and put him on his back. Then it’s in our realm. So what [Johnson is] saying is absolutely true.”

What do you think of Demetrious Johnson’s opinion about how an MMA fight would play out between Ngannou and Joshua?

Demetrious Johnson details how the UFC would pay fighters based on their social media traffic

Demetrious Johnson was one of the UFC’s most dominant athletes when the promotion was still finding its footing in…

Demetrious Johnson was one of the UFC’s most dominant athletes when the promotion was still finding its footing in the world of social media.

‘Mighty Mouse’ is considered by many to be one of the P4P greatest fighters in the sport’s history, scoring 11 consecutive title defenses — a UFC record that may very well stand the test of time. But despite all of his accolades, Johnson never brought home the paychecks like that of other champions during his legendary run.

In fact, Johnson’s reign over the flyweight division was so significant that the promotion has even considered shutting it down altogether.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but Demetrious Johnson has since found a new home in ONE Championship. There, he reigns as the promotion’s current flyweight MMA titleholder and completed the first trilogy of his career, winning back-to-back bouts against former champion Adriano Moraes.

Looking back on his time with the UFC, Johnson spoke about the promotion’s early days on social media and pushing athletes to expand their individual brands online with a series of incentives.

“When Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook first came out, the UFC would bring us to the ‘Fighter Summit’ and say, ‘You guys need to build your brand. It’s free. It costs you nothing. The more people want to see you fight, the more money you’re going to make because you’re going to make money in pay-per-view points, etc., etc., if you become a champion, if you become a partner,’” Johnson said on his YouTube channel.

“The UFC was very good about doing that. Back then they would send you laptops. Back then they’d give you incentives, I think it was like quarterly. Whoever had the most traffic in their thing. First person would get $25,000. It would go like $12,000 then $5,000, maybe $1,000. They’d give us a lot of incentives to talk about the fights and boast it, and they kept on doing it for I think a year or two. Fast forward to what it is today, I think they’ve seen the payoff of them slowly investing in telling the fighters to do that” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Demetrious Johnson recalls how hard the UFC wanted to push Cain Velasquez

The UFC held Fighter Summits between 2009 and 2011, right around the time that Cain Velasquez rose to prominence and captured the heavyweight title with a stunning first-round knockout of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.

“I’ll never forget at the UFC Fighter Summit they pulled a picture of Cain Velasquez and were like, ‘You see this man? This man is Mexican-American. We are trying to break into the Mexican market so we want this man to do very, very well. You need to follow this man’s footsteps and try to get your community behind you. That way, it brings more eyeballs to the sport,’” Johnson said.

“I always tell my friends and my wife, any check I can get without getting punched in the face is a good check. It’s a good check because I’m getting paid for not me being in the gym, training hard, and fighting, but by me being a personal persona and going to shake some hands, doing whatever it may be.”