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Tag: Demetrious Johnson

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

    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 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.’”

  • Demetrious Johnson Puts Full-Time Twitch Streamer Dream On Hold

    ONE Championship’s Demetrious Johnson is putting his goals of streaming on Twitch full-time on the back burner.

    There’s a list of fighters who found stardom on Twitch, including Max Holloway, Angela Hill, and “Rampage” Jackson. But Johnson has been in the game longer and feels the streaming service comes with a few obstacles to conquer.

    During his successful streaming career, Johnson hardly had any time for his family. He would train, stream, and repeat. Exhaustion eventually caught up with him, and it was time to put the sticks down and focus on the important things.

    Demetrious Johnson
    Demetrious Johnson, Photo Credit: Game Informer

    “My schedule basically consisted of this: I would go to the gym, train for a session, stream afterward, then get my second session in, come home, eat dinner, kiss my wife, and then go downstairs and stream for another two hours,” Johnson said. At the time, he was making around $3,000 per month from streaming, enough to cover his mortgage. “But then it came to a point where I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? I don’t get to go to bed with my wife. I’m absolutely exhausted. It’s just not worth it,’ ” Johnson told The Washington Post.

    He’s sorry for streamers’ who experience a fluctuation in their followers and subscribers. The thought of being dependent on subscribers to support himself financially does not entice him. Furthermore, the point of him playing video games is simply for enjoyment.

    Training as a mixed martial artist probably sounds daunting to the average gamer. Being one of the greatest fighters in the world is far from easy, but to Johnson, it makes a lot more sense than swimming in Twitch’s algorithm pool and maintaining the support of subscribers.

    Once, “Mighty Mouse” wished to live the seemingly exciting life as a gamer on Twitch. Now, those plans have come to an end.

    The more conversations he has with current streamers and channels he views, the less desirable the idea becomes. Now, Demetrious Johnson fights with ONE Championship.

    “Wake up every day and stream full time? … Oh god no. I couldn’t do it,” Johnson said during an interview on The Washington Post’s Friday live stream, Press Play. “Sometimes I feel bad for some of the streamers; one moment they have a s—load [of subscribers], and then next thing you know, they take a little time off, and their subscriber numbers just drop. I’ll play video games because I enjoy it, but I don’t want it to be my livelihood,” Johnson continues to say.

    Johnson’s love for video games will never diminish. However, now just isn’t the time for him to pursue a full-time streaming career on Twitch.

    At this time, his focus is on his next bout with ONE Championship. On March 26 he faces off with flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special rules match.

    What are your thoughts on “Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson giving up being a full-time Twitch streamer?

  • Demetrious Johnson’s Mixed-Special-Rules Fight Now March 26

    Demetrious Johnson is set to make his return to competition in a very intriguing way when he takes on ONE Championship Flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon on March 26.

    CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the fight last year on The MMA Hour after the original ONE X card planned for December 5 2021 was postponed.

    The mixed-special-rules fight will have alternating rounds between Muay Thai and MMA. The first and third rounds will be under Muay Thai rules, and the second and fourth rounds will be MMA. This will be a tall test for Johnson, as Jitmuangnon has competed in over 300 professional Muay Thai bouts with a total of 267 wins. The ONE Muay Thai champion is currently on a five-fight winning streak and has held the title since August 2, 2019.

    What makes this fight interesting, though, is that Jitmuangnon has never competed in MMA, just as Johnson has never competed in Muay Thai. After losing for the first time in ONE Championship in April to flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, Johnson did express interest in competing in a kickboxing bout, so this unique fight announcement should not come as a total surprise.

    Also announced for this card is atomweight champion Angela Lee defending her title against Stamp Fairtex, who has held championships in multiple combat sports. This bout will serve as the main event for the card. Additionally, Adriano Moraes will take on Yuya Wakamatsu in his first flyweight title defense since defeating Demetrious Johnson last year.

    Stick with MMA News for further updates on this event, including the broadcast information. Also, be sure to catch our coverage of ONE X on March 26!

    Are you excited to see the mixed rules bout between Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang Jitmuangnon on March 26?

  • Archives: MMA News’ Naughty & Nice Christmas List For 2018

    As you continue to celebrate Christmas 2021, join us in taking a look back at the MMA News’ Naughty & Nice List of 2018, courtesy of ex-staff member Adam Martin.

    The following editorial is brought to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.

    [ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 21, 2018, 12:42 PM]

    Headline: MMA Naughty & Nice Christmas List For 2018

    Author: Adam Martin

    Just like any other year, there was good and bad in MMA in 2018. Below are some instances of those in the business who were naughty, and those who were nice.

    Naughty: Khabib Nurmagomedov Jumps Over Cage

    There’s no question UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov tops the naughty list after jumping over the fence at UFC 229 and going after Conor McGregor’s corner. Regardless of what Team McGregor said to Nurmagomedov in the lead-up to the fight, he had no business scaling the fence and then launching himself into the crowd. Nurmagomedov hasn’t even received his full punishment for the incident yet, and he is likely headed for more fines and suspensions. But the worst thing about this is that the lightweight division finally had some momentum again and this incident stalled it. The UFC might want to book the rematch between Nurmagomedov and McGregor just because it will sell big bucks, but the promotion shouldn’t even risk something like this happening again.

    Nice: UFC Lets Demetrious Johnson Go, Completes Trade with ONE

    After losing the flyweight title in a huge upset to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, the UFC granted Demetrious Johnson his release and helped orchestrate a trade to ONE Championship for Ben Askren. The UFC could have been sticklers and made Johnson fight out his deal with them, but chose to do the right thing and let Johnson go off to greener pastures. The UFC makes a lot of selfish decisions, but letting Johnson go to ONE — not to mention Sage Northcutt and Eddie Alvarez — was a good PR move, and just a good-will move to give one of the greatest fighters of all time the right to pick his next home.

    Naughty: UFC Signs Greg Hardy

    What wasn’t the greatest PR move was the UFC signing Greg Hardy to a contract. Yes, Hardy is an intriguing heavyweight prospect with huge knockout power and raw athleticism who could be something special. But you can’t ignore his past, and his domestic violence incident will always stay with him. The sport of MMA has a lot of people in it who have done some bad things, so Hardy shouldn’t be completely singled out, but the UFC signing him and then booking him on the same card as Rachael Ostovich was a terrible move.

    Nice: “Jacare” Holds Up From Hurting Chris Weidman

    In one of the ultimate acts of sportsmanship, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza knocked out Chris Weidman at UFC 230 but refused to throw any follow-up punches once Weidman landed on the canvas. Unlike Dan Henderson, who viciously punched Michael Bisping on the mat even though he was knocked out back at UFC 100, Souza refrained from hitting Weidman any more, and later on the two posted pictures with each other and kind words on social media. Souza and Weidman are two of the most respectful and genuinely good guys in the game, so did you expect anything less?

    Naughty: 48-year-old Chuck Liddell Fights in 2018

    Golden Boy MMA goes on the naughty list for actually booking Chuck Liddell to fight in the year 2018. Liddell had no business coming out of retirement and it wasn’t shocking at all to see him get brutally knocked out by Tito Ortiz at age 48. Shame on the promotion, shame on the commission, and shame on the fighter. This fight was embarrassing and should have never happened. Liddell should truly never fight again, and at this point it looks like Golden Boy MMA itself may never put on a fight again, either.

    Nice: Chan Sung Jung and Yair Rodriguez Take Hospital Photo After Epic Brawl

    Arguably the best fight of 2018 was the wild brawl between Chan Sung Jung and Yair Rodriguez at the UFC’s 25th anniversary event. The two featherweight sluggers went at each other for nearly five full rounds before Rodriguez landed an insane upward elbow with one second left in the fifth round to pick up maybe the single-greatest knockout in MMA history. After the fight, the two warriors posed in the hospital for a memorable picture that exemplified the respect and true martial arts that the bedrock of this sport was built on.

    Naughty: Conor McGregor Bus Incident

    This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the bus incident back at UFC 223. Conor McGregor threw a dolly through a bus window which ended up injuring several fighters and leading to multiple fights being scrapped. It was one of the ugliest outside-the-cage incidents involving an MMA fighter all year, perhaps only eclipsed by Nurmagomedov jumping over the fence at UFC 229, depending on how you look at things.

    What are some other examples of naughty and nice in MMA in 2018? Leave a comment below with your examples.

  • Archives: Woodley Says The UFC Underpromotes Him Due To Race (2017)

    Tonight, Tyron Woodley will face Jake Paul in a rematch of their highly promoted bout from August. But before he was boxing YouTubers in specialty prize fights, he was the undisputed UFC champion. However, according to Woodley, you would have never known it by the way he was treated by the UFC.

    The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.

    [ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 19, 2017, 8:51 AM]

    Headline: Tyron Woodley: Race Responsible for Being “Worst-Treated Champ in UFC History”

    Author: Adam Haynes

    Tyron “T-Wood” Woodley believes that being an African-American in the UFC has worked against him and other fighters when it comes to promotional appeal.

    Woodley feels that the UFC can capitalize on stardom in an effort to convert more African-American fans from boxing and other sports to MMA.

    UFC’s welterweight champion is of the opinion that the UFC is not doing enough to promote both him and the sport as a whole to the African Americans, and feels as though the time has come for the franchise to do so:

    “I think I’m the only African-American fighter on the roster who can capture the market,” Woodley said. “Especially with Floyd Mayweather retiring and things like that. But you have to educate the community on what it is. Most people in the community, those people think that mixed martial artists are a whole bunch of crazy white guys kicking on each other and they sprinkle in a few brothers. That’s their thought. They don’t see it as karate, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo, sambo. They don’t see it’s a beautiful art with so many martial arts combined in them.”

    Woodley’s frustration also stretches to another fighter he feels has not been promoted to the best of the UFC’s abilities, the current flyweight champion and pound-for-pound #1, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

    The Missouri native brought questions [courtesy of ESPN] to the fore regarding black fighters (such as Johnson),  have not attained the level of superstardom which white fighters such as [Conor] McGregor and [Ronda] Rousey have:

    “The best pound-for-pound fighter, Demetrious Johnson, African-American male, completely a Tasmanian devil,”  “Why isn’t he getting the endorsements? Why isn’t he making the most money? What’s the difference? Think about it.”

    “I’m by far the worst-treated champion in the history of the UFC. Blatantly fact.”

    Woodley appears to be genuinely incredulous as to why the UFC have, as he feels, not made more of an effort to market him:

    “I’m a husband, I’m a father of four, I’m a gym owner,” Woodley said. “I’m an actor. I’m an analyst. I’m a stuntman. I’m a Christian. Every avenue you can take me, I’ve done it. I grew up in the projects. I grew up in gang banging. Family of 14 in a four-bedroom house and I made a choice to be successful. What is there not to market? I’m fighting like hell. I’m not doing performance-enhancing drugs in my life. Why would they not want to market me?”