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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 […]

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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**.”

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Khabib Nurmagomedov Wants to Train 17-year-old Muay Thai Prodigy ‘Jojo’ for MMA

Khabib Nurmagomedov Wants to Train Johan Ghazali 17-year-old Muay Thai Prodigy 'Jojo' for MMA UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov is looking to train the 17-year-old ‘Jojo’ Johan Ghazali for a potential future debut in…

UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov is looking to train the 17-year-old ‘Jojo’ Johan Ghazali for a potential future debut in MMA. Right now, ‘Jojo’ is a prodigy of Muay Thai.

Johan Ghazali

At just 17 years of age, Johan Ghazali is a rising star in the world of Muay Thai. Both of his parents trained in Muay Thai and he began training when he was just 10 years old, merely seven years ago. The Malaysian-American fighter has impressed Muay Thai fans with his 16-second knockout against Padetsuk Fairtex. Thus far in ONE Championship, he has put together a record of 6-1 having won most of these matchups by KO/TKO.

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Dagestan’s Khabib Nurmagomedov is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time due to his run in the UFC’s lightweight division. His dominant wins made him an international star. After retiring with an unbeaten record, vacating his world title, ‘The Eagle’ took to training future champions.

One of his most successful students is the current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. Plus, Bellator MMA champion Usman Nurmagomedov and the top-ranked Umar Nurmagomedov.

Khabib Nurmagomedov assessed the Muay Thai skills of Johan Ghazali in Malaysia recently and remarked:

“I know he is a good young striker, he told me in the future he wants to move to MMA when he finishes with Muay Thai. He is always welcome to Dagestan and train at our gym. In MMA you need to train in wrestling, and he will improve that by training with us.”

On potentially opening a gym in Malaysia, the former UFC champion said:

“This is a very good idea. We’re thinking about this. Why not we open a gym here and bring good coaches? It will be good for all Malaysia MMA.”

New UFC Signee Reinier De Ridder Reveals Truth Behind His ONE Championship Departure

Earlier this year, Reinier de Ridder parted ways with ONE Championship. Now, the former two-division ONE world champion is…

Earlier this year, Reinier de Ridder parted ways with ONE Championship. Now, the former two-division ONE world champion is shedding some light on his departure and subsequent signing with the UFC.

‘The Dutch Knight’ dominated ONE’s middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, earning wins over Aung La N Sang, Kiamrian Abbasov, and Vitaly Bigdash. Along the way, he captured the top prize in both divisions and held them simultaneously until suffering back-to-back losses against Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin.

Shortly after his second career loss, de Ridder departed ONE and took a fight under the UAE Warriors banner in July which he won via a first-round KO. Since then, he has signed with the UFC, becoming one of the promotion’s more prominent free-agent signings in recent years.

Not long after the news broke of his imminent debut inside the Octagon, de Ridder offered a few details on why he walked away from ONE and what he hopes to accomplish on MMA’s biggest stage.

“Yeah, I don’t think I can tell you guys everything right now.” Reiner de Ridder told MMA Junkie when asked about his UFC signing. “A lot of stuff happened and thankfully everything fell into place. We had a plan, and it worked out, basically. I’ve had a lot of good things happen to me since I joined with ONE, a lot of good opportunities, it was very good for a long time. It hasn’t been so good for a little while as well. Maybe one day, I’ll talk a little bit more about it.”

“For now, I’ll keep my cards a little close to my chest… I always take everything one step at a time, but the UFC has always been in the back of my mind. Yeah, I’m like every fighter, I’m not that special in that regard. They can offer you twice the money somewhere else, but everybody wants to go to the UFC. We’re all just dummies to be honest! The plan was to get a fight there at UAE, get it done quick, and get the ball rolling to sign with the UFC” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Reinier de Ridder eyes matchups with the middleweight division’s best

Reinier de Ridder will make his promotional debut on November 9 at UFC Vegas 100. On that night, he will square off with Gerald Meerschaert in a middleweight matchup that already has fans salivating.

Should he bag a big win against ‘GM3’ inside The APEX, ‘The Dutch Knight’ already has a list of names he’d love to test himself against, including three current or former world champions.

“Right now. Let’s go,” De Ridder said. “I’m ready. That’s what I’m here for. It would be so cool to finally get a shot at those guys. They’ve been around for so long. I’ve been around for a little while now, as well, so it would be very cool to finally get a chance to fight those guys… Adesanya, Dricus, Strickland, all of them. Why not?”

De Ridder went 7-2 in ONE Championship with a 71% finish rate. He secured four wins by way of submission with another two via KO. Overall, the BJJ black belt is 16-2 in his mixed martial arts career.

Reinier de Ridder, Former Two-Division ONE Championship Titleholder, Signs with the UFC

The UFC has signed former two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder. First announced via the UFC Roster Tracker…

The UFC has signed former two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder.

First announced via the UFC Roster Tracker account on X, de Ridder’s signing has been confirmed by multiple outlets, including both MMA Junkie and MMA Fighting. According to the reports, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has signed a multi-fight deal with the organization, though the promotion has not formally announced the signing.

De Ridder, 34, previously held both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world championships. He fought nine times for the promotion, going 9-2 with losses coming via back-to-back defeats against Russian star Anatoly Malykhin. Before that, he’d earned noteworthy wins over a handful of former ONE champions, including Aung La N Sang, Kiamrian Abbasov, and Vitaly Bigdash, and boasted a solid 71% finish rate with four submissions and one knockout against seven victories.

Reinier de Ridder has already earned a win outside of ONE Championship

Following his ONE Championship exit over the summer, de Ridder climbed back into the win column under the UAE Warriors banner in July, scoring a first-round knockout against Magomedmurad Khasaev.

The jiu-jitsu black belt will reportedly compete at 185 pounds when he makes his Octagon debut.

Joe Rogan Thrilled with Superlek’s Muay Thai Knockout “Oh my God perfect elbow” for the World Title

Talk show host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan was thrilled to see Superlek Kiatmoo9’s stunning 49-second knockout against Jonathan…

Talk show host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan was thrilled to see Superlek Kiatmoo9’s stunning 49-second knockout against Jonathan Haggerty, to capture Muay Thai gold in ONE Championship.

Jonathan Haggerty vs. Superlek

The Thai striking star was going up in weight to challenge for gold against the British-born athlete ‘The General’ Jonathan Haggerty. Haggerty had earned titles in Muay Thai and kickboxing all via knockout and was going to be a major challenge for ‘The Kicking Machine.

The UK-born Haggerty had collected KO wins against fighters such as Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama, the MMA champion Fabricio Andrade, and top contender Felipe Lobo. Superlek was a fighter he had a prior loss against and hoped to avenge the previous defeat.

Superlek, going into the match, had impressive wins over fighters such as Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and multi-division kickboxing champion Takeru Segawa. The Thai-born athlete has an incredible background in the sport with over 130 career victories professionally with multiple Stadium Titles, among several others.

At ONE 168, Superlek made easy work of ‘The General’ with an elbow knockout just 49 seconds into the fight. It was a perfectly placed counter to end the contest. It was meant to be a five-round championship war but instead, it was done in a matter of seconds. Superlek now adds ONE Muay Thai gold to his impressive collection of accolades.

Joe Rogan

On his popular podcast, Joe Rogan was pretty excited by this knockout. He said:

“Superlek is this bad*** Muay Thai fighter. Haggerty has a certain hop, and he goes in. And then Superlek timed it. He tried it earlier in the round and didn’t catch it. And in this one, look at it, perfect timing — he gets his head off the center line. Oh my God, perfect elbow.”

Panpayak Jitmuangnon and Superlek have faced each other in seven bouts throughout the course of their careers, with Panpayak winning most of their fights but Superlek has taken wins in the more recent bouts. The Thai-born Panpayak seems to be the only competition for Superlek. Joe Rogan, a fan of Muay Thai, would be all over it.

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

UFC CEO, Dana White has heaped praise on former undisputed flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson — after the Kentucky fan-favorite…

UFC CEO, Dana White has heaped praise on former undisputed flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson — after the Kentucky fan-favorite finally called time on his stunning professional mixed martial arts career over the course of the weekend in ONE Championship’s return to North America.

Johnson, a former undisputed flyweight champion in the UFC — who retains the record for the most consecutive successful title defenses in the history of the Octagon, appeared at ONE Championship 168 in Denver over the course of the weekend, emotionally confirming his retirement from mixed martial arts competition.

Adriano Moraes Demetrious Johnson ONE on Prime Video 1 1920X1280 63

Preparing to potentially continue in his recent run of massive appearances at a host of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world championship competitions, Johnson called time on his run following a prior unanimous decision win over three-time foe, Adriano Moraes in May of last year in Colorado — retaining ONE flyweight crown.

Demetrious Johnson praised in retirement by UFC boss, Dana White

And sharing his thoughts on Johnson’s retirement from mixed martial arts over the course of the weekend, UFC boss, White claimed he always “defended” the former UFC star from apparent fan discourse, before confirming he would also enter their respective Hall of Fame following his decision to hang up his gloves.

Demetrious Johnson Adriano Moraes ONE Fight Night 10 18

Yeah, I didn’t know he (Demetrious Johnson) [retired],” Dana White told Grind City Media. “God for him. (An) incredible career he had. I never had a problem with Demetrious Johnson. Absolutely [he’s a Hall of Fame inductee].”

“Listen, if you go back to when he was here [in the UFC], I was defending him from the fans,” Dana White explained. “Who’s defended Demetrious Johnson more than me?”