When Demetrius Johnson’s grip on the UFC Flyweight Championship was as tight as his powerful weapons, no champion was more active to defend his crown.
From 2013 to 2017, “Mighty Mouse” successfully held UFC-records 11 times. He has always been an active competitor, with 10 months representing the longest layoff of his career.
The COVID-19 then devastated the world, and the 2019 One Championship Flyweight Grand Prix winner was knocked out of a full calendar year of competition for the first time as a professional. Johnson (30–3–1, 17 Finnish) made his scheduled April 7 date to challenge One Flyweight winner Adriano Mores (18–3, 12 finishes) as the headliner of Singapore’s first “One on TNT” event. Decided. He was sidelined for nearly 18 months at the Indoor Stadium in Kalang, Singapore.
Boomer, right? Not in Johnson’s eyes. Not when the world is dealing with powers beyond its control. Not so when he is occupying his time.
“It’s great to be honest with you,” Johnson told The Post about the longest layoff of his career recently. “… I have been very busy, even in this time of COVID-19, walking with children and wife. A lot of people may see this as a negative, but for me, I’m busy. “
Johnson, who left the UFC in August 2018 after losing his 125-pound crown against Henry Cejudo in a razor-thin decision and became part of the first major MMA “trade” for another organization – in return for now retired welterweight Ben Escarren for. – Note that they used this rare time away from the competition to create their esports and gaming profiles and also released a collection of vinyl figures. The 34-year-old fully understands that his time as a cage fighter is limited and he is setting himself up for the later athletic phase of his life.
“You can’t fight forever,” Johnson said. “You have to start building your brand in different ways. That way, when you’re fighting, you have something to fall back on. “
But Johnson has no concrete plans to run anytime soon, and is one of the top flyweight in the world. (Well, in a way. A championship flyweights compete at 135 pounds – above 10 specific limits – and are tested to make sure they are not dehydrating themselves in an effort to cut dangerous loads Are. Technically, he competes as a bentweight, but unsteadily he. Has the same size as his UFC flyweight days).
If Johnson had wanted, he could have made a very solid case for being the top flyweight in the world. Sejudo defended just one title before vacating the belt to focus on defending his bantamweight championship, then surprisingly retired in May. No one beat him to become the winner of the UFC 125 pounds, now a gap borne by Division Figuredio. Mighty Mouse has stated that he intends to end his career with Forest, for which he competed three times in 2019, overshadowed by a decision victory over Danny Kingd in the October finals of an eight-man tournament. This would be a matchup between Johnson and Figueiredo, but unlikely.
And it’s not that Johnson, who said he doesn’t clap back and forth in the “I’m better” debate, is creating heat. As far as claiming top flyweight in MMA, he would only state that all fighters consider themselves to be the best.
“I think Davson is an amazing champion,” Johnson said. “He has done amazing things, and I wish him nothing but the best, and I hope he has a brilliant, successful career.”
The debate over the loss of cageddo continues by fans in the MMA community, with many believers doing enough to win the tipping-point second round. One judge agreed, while the other two scored it as 48-47 for Sijudo, with the final split in favor of Seijudo. For his part, Johnson has always publicly harmed Stride, even at a time when he heard the verdict had to go against him. If they feel that injustice has been done to them, their calm behavior and respectful response is not shown.
He realizes the ability to take a loss in stride to have the right mindset and attitude, realizing that great athletes do not always win and have tasted defeat twice themselves.
Johnson said after the loss, “Don’t get me wrong: I went back to the hotel room, and I cried, and I screamed, and I got annoyed.” “And then after that, I was like, OK, you know, we’ll go back home and get back to work.
“… I’m doing this because this is what I provide for my family. When you have that type of mindset, you never really give up. It’s part of the F-Neg game , close friend. “
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