Chatri Sityodtong on why Demetrious Johnson is the GOAT

Demetrious Johnson has been at the top of the mixed martial arts mountain for a long time. And after successfully defending his flyweight crown against Adriano Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10, the now-14-time MMA world champion definitely deserves to be in a league of his own.

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong shares the same opinion on the subject, especially with the MMA GOAT tag often associated with various names in the sport.

In Sityodtong’s opinion, Johnson is worthy of the GOAT label for his courage and ability to be at the top of his game for years.

Besides, the AMC Pankration and Evolve MMA athlete has taken out a plethora of different styled fighters throughout his reign – another factor that the lifelong martial artist believes makes the American athlete a true GOAT of the sport.

Case in point, ‘Mighty Mouse’ first tasted world title success in MMA in 2012. At ONE’s on-ground show in North America last month, it marked more than a decade of him being in the discipline as a world champion for the most part.

At the ONE Fight Night 10 Post-Event Press Conference, Chatri Sityodtong said:

“I’m speaking as a lifelong martial artist, not just [thoughts] from a random businessman. I’ve been doing martial arts my entire life. That’s how I judge it. There are other people who have also achieved a lot in the sport, but they are still one-dimensional. They are still lacking.”

He added:

“Whereas with DJ, you genuinely, if you talk amongst the martial arts community and the martial artists, more people would say he is the GOAT [than others]. If you talk to the casuals, who fall for the rhetorics and the marketing, these are different things.”

After a glorious stint in North America, ‘Mighty Mouse’ debuted at ONE with a second-round submission win over Yuya Wakamatsu in the quarterfinal of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.

Johnson saw off a tricky Tatsumitsu Wada by unanimous decision in the semifinal before taking home the prestigious silver strap by defeating Danny Kingad in the final.

Since then, ‘Mighty Mouse’ has been locked in for three successive battles against Moraes. After falling short in his first battle against the longtime king, the 36-year-old pulled the scores to 2-1.

Fans in North America can watch Demetrious Johnson’s dominant win over Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 via replay on Amazon Prime Video.