Demetrious Johnson believes Henry Cejudo would have ‘1,000 percent’ defeated Aljamain Sterling under ONE’s global ruleset

Demetrious Johnson believes Henry Cejudo would have gotten his hands raised against Aljamain Sterling if the match was contested under ONE Championship’s global ruleset.

‘Mighty Mouse’ and Cejudo spent a portion of their training camp together earlier this year, putting work on the canvas and in the stand-up department.

The AMC Pankration and Evolve MMA athlete, of course, was preparing to defend his ONE flyweight world title versus Adriano Moraes in the main event of ONE Fight Night 10.

The Olympic gold medalist, on the other hand, was gearing up for his return to action after deciding to hang up his gloves in 2020.

But while Johnson succeeded in his test, Cejudo fell short in his own main event showpiece, going down to the defending champion by a split decision after a five-round affair.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Johnson said that Cejudo would have found plenty of ways to dismantle Sterling when the pair were locked in tight situations on the canvas if the battle took place under the ONE Championship spotlight.

Demetrious Johnson said:

“Oh, 1,000 percent [he would’ve won under ONE rules]. Aljo would shoot – and he did it with Petr Yan – he would shoot and fail his shot, or Henry would sprawl and (Sterling) would sit like this [swings head from side to side]. He would use the (prohibited) knee to a grounded opponent to his advantage.”

After closing out his trilogy showdown on May 5 inside the sold-out 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, with a clear-cut unanimous decision win, Johnson tuned in to watch his foe-turned-friend in action.

And although he did give credit to Sterling’s intelligent output, he once again reiterated why the plot would have unfolded very differently if the match took place inside the Circle.

He said:

“It’s smart on Aljo’s part because he knows that Henry doesn’t have the right tools. … But if it’s in ONE Championship when he shot and had the quarter Nelson or the head, he could’ve kneed Aljo in the face and would’ve forced Aljo to move to not stall there and move to a different place.”

Watch the full interview here:

North American fans who are eager to see Johnson’s match-winning performance can watch the entire ONE Fight Night 10 card via replay on Amazon Prime.