Tag: Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson

Demetrious Johnson Praises Henry Cejudo: ‘Start Paying That Man’

Although being gone from the UFC, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson still has his eye on the promotion. Johnson was watching when Henry Cejudo captured the bantamweight title by finishing Marlon Moraes in the fourth round of the UFC 238 pay-per-view (PPV) main event. Speaking on his Twitch account recently, Johnson said Cejudo did an “amazing […]

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Although being gone from the UFC, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson still has his eye on the promotion.

Johnson was watching when Henry Cejudo captured the bantamweight title by finishing Marlon Moraes in the fourth round of the UFC 238 pay-per-view (PPV) main event. Speaking on his Twitch account recently, Johnson said Cejudo did an “amazing job,” and said it’s time for the UFC to “start paying that man” (via MMA Mania):

“I thought Henry Cejudo did an amazing job,” Johnson said. “I hope they start paying that man. I look forward to seeing what he does next in his career. The thing I was most surprised about was Marlon Moraes gassing.

“I was shocked that he gassed. And Henry Cejudo took advantage and made it a dogfight. He came out the champion. Henry Cejudo, he’s ‘Triple C’, he’s the ‘champ champ champ’.”

Cejudo and Johnson have met twice inside the Octagon. Their first meeting took place back in April of 2016 when Johnson finished Cejudo in the first round. Johnson handed the former Olympic gold medalist the first defeat of his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career. However, Cejudo bounced back in their rematch later, pulling off a shock victory over “Mighty Mouse” at UFC 227 this past August.

Cejudo handed Johnson his first career loss at 125 pounds via split decision. That bout proved to be Johnson’s final under the UFC banner, as he was subsequently traded to ONE Championship. He had a successful promotional debut in March, submitting Yuya Wakamatsu in the second round at “ONE Championship: A New Era.” Now, Johnson is slated to return to the cage on August 2 against Tatsumitsu Wada at “ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes.”

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ONE Championship Reveals Flyweight Grand Prix Tournament Bracket

ONE Championship has announced the bracket for their flyweight Grand Prix Tournament. The event is an eight-man tournament and will feature four opening-round fights. One of those fights includes former UFC flyweight king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse…

ONE Championship has announced the bracket for their flyweight Grand Prix Tournament. The event is an eight-man tournament and will feature four opening-round fights. One of those fights includes former UFC flyweight king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. He’ll face 10-3 Yuya Wakamatsu. The fight goes down at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Japan on March 31st. […]

The post ONE Championship Reveals Flyweight Grand Prix Tournament Bracket appeared first on MMA News.

UFC Reportedly Moving To Close Flyweight Division

After trading away Demetrious Johnson, the UFC is making moves to close out its men’s flyweight division.

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The UFC is reportedly making the necessary moves to shut down its men’s flyweight division.

Recently, the UFC was involved in the first major trade in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. The promotion sent Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson to ONE Championship. In return, the MMA promotional juggernaut received undefeated welterweight Ben Askren. With Johnson being traded, this brought up a lot of questions in regards to the men’s flyweight division.

The division never was much of a draw, even with Johnson as champion. After Henry Cejudo defeated Johnson to become the second-ever champion in the division’s history, talk already begun of Cejudo having a superfight with TJ Dillashaw.

With Johnson now with ONE, the UFC seems to be content with shutting down the men’s division at 125 pounds. It seems the wheels are already in motion.

Flyweight Jose “Shorty” Torres took to Twitter to inform fans he had been released from the UFC, as the promotion is, in fact, shutting down flyweight:

“Im the 1st to be let go. I didnt get to finish my UFC contract with 2 fights left because they are cutting most of my division n not giving some of us a chance to bump up n prove ourselves like myself.

“So now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. Good luck small guys”

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani confirmed the news, reporting that managers are being contacted and informed that the plan is to shut the division down:

“I’m told UFC has called some managers recently to tell them that’s what they plan on doing. Others haven’t been told yet. Seems like the end is near for the 125ers. reported first.”

Helwani also noted that, if you’re a flyweight coming off a loss, you probably won’t get the opportunity to move up to bantamweight:

“If you’re coming off a loss at 125, it doesn’t look great. However, legally, if you’re coming off a win and have fights left on your contract UFC can’t release you.

“That’s why you’ll see some go up to 135 rather than leave (unless they really want to, I suppose).”

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“Mighty Mouse” & Eddie Alvarez Set To Participate In ONE Championship World Grand Prix

ONE Championship is ready to introduce their newly-acquired fighters to their promotion. Both Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Eddie Alvarez are in Singapore at the moment to make their first appearances for ONE. They will be guest fig…

ONE Championship is ready to introduce their newly-acquired fighters to their promotion. Both Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Eddie Alvarez are in Singapore at the moment to make their first appearances for ONE. They will be guest fighters at Friday’s (November 9, 2018) ONE: Heart Of The Lion event. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently revealed that both […]

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Mighty Mouse Saw ‘Nothing There’ In Potential Cejudo Trilogy

A possible trilogy bout with Henry Cejudo apparently did nothing for Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

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Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is no longer undefeated in flyweight competition.

This past summer, former Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo defeated Johnson via split decision to become the second-ever UFC flyweight champion. Little did anyone know, that would be Johnson’s last fight in the UFC. Earlier this week it was reported that the first major trade between mixed martial arts (MMA) promotions had been agreed upon.

The UFC has sent Johnson to ONE Championship, receiving welterweight Ben Askren in return. Johnson had a very big case for an immediate rematch against Cejudo, however, things seemed like they were trending in the opposite direction. Almost immediately after his win, Cejudo was involved in talks of a superfight with bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw.

With that being said, Johnson saw the writing on the wall, and his management made efforts to ship him out of the UFC. Now, he resides with ONE Championship and will be one of the promotion’s biggest stars. Speaking on a conference call recently, Johnson discussed his departure from the UFC. In regards to a potential rematch with Cejudo, “Mighty Mouse” said there was simply “nothing there” for him (via MMA Fighting):

“I think for me going back and trying to regain my title there was nothing there for me, because if I look at it as the standpoint as a martial artist, it was something that I’ve already beaten Henry Cejudo and I truly felt that I’ve been beaten a lot worse,” Johnson said.

“When I fought Dominick Cruz (for the 135-pound title on Oct. 1, 2011), I felt like I truly was the smaller guy. I mean, he suplexed me three times for God’s sakes. So with that I thought if I went back and fought (Cejudo), who knows how the fight could have went? I could have won it the third time, or I could have lost again, and I took a step back and I was like, ‘Okay, what do I truly want? Like ask yourself that, DJ, what do you truly want?’

“And I was like, I wanted something different, I wanted to mix it up, I wanted to do something different – I want to be able to walk out to the cage and feel butterflies, or if it’s the ring, I want to face a different type of competition and I knew if I went back and I would have won that belt again, then I knew that I would be staying in the exact same organization, fighting the exact same athletes — which, they are phenomenal athletes — but I’ve beaten pretty much everybody on that roster so far and so I felt this was a perfect opportunity to me. I wasn’t held by being the champion anymore.”

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Dana White: Fans Never Gave DJ Respect He Deserved

Dana White doesn’t believe that UFC fans gave Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson the respect he deserves.

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Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is no longer a member of the UFC roster.

Johnson was involved in the first major trade in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. The UFC offered up their former flyweight champion to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren. Johnson suffered his first career loss at 125 pounds this past summer. Despite being the most successful champion in UFC history, talks of Henry Cejudo fighting TJ Dillashaw were already stealing headlines.

It was clear Johnson would either have to wait around or never receive his much-deserved rematch. He was subsequently dealt away to ONE Championship. Johnson is widely regarded by many hardcore MMA fans as, arguably, the greatest of all0time. However, he never was much of a pay-per-view (PPV) draw, and the same could be said for the flyweight division as a whole.

TMZ recently caught up with UFC President Dana White and got his thoughts on the matter. The UFC boss said he doesn’t think UFC fans ever really gave Johnson the respect he deserved:

“I feel like he never really got the love and respect he deserved from the fans. I don’t know if he was always thrilled being here, so hopefully, he’s a lot happier where he’s headed now.”

In turn, the UFC will receive Askren, an undefeated welterweight who has been fantasy booked by MMA fans for years. He’ll now have the opportunity to face fellow grappling aces such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre. Fans won’t have to worry about Askren’s first fight being a tune-up of sorts. White confirmed “Funky” will definitely be fighting a top-five ranked fighter:

“We’re still working on it,” White said. “He’s definitely gonna fight somebody in the Top 5.”

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