At ONE Championship’s 10th-Anniversary event ONE X, Demetrious Johnson competed in a critically-acclaimed mixed-rules bout with reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon. ‘Mighty Mouse’ scored a second-round rear-naked choke submission of ‘The Iron Man’ in the second round.
The fight consisted of alternating rounds, with the first and third rounds being contested under Muay Thai rules, while the second and fourth switching to MMA rules. It was praised by fighters, fans, and even podcaster and MMA color commentator Joe Rogan, who said, “It was a crazy rule set; I like how they did it.”
While Demetrious Johnson has his hands full with a massive world title rematch with flyweight king Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1, the flyweight great is looking at other potential super fights in the future. In an interview with MMA Sucka, Johnson revealed two fighters he would like to mix it up with inside the ONE circle.
“I wouldn’t mind fighting Giorgio Petrosyan to see how well he manages the distance in a fight. His eyes, you know, I heard he has really good eyes… Who else? I guess Superbon to see how good his kickboxing is. I’ve seen his kickboxing. I think Superbon’s Muay Thai is way better than his kickboxing, to be honest with you.”
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Watch the Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang superfight below:
Demetrious Johnson believes his bout with Rodtang was his biggest fight in ONE Championship
ONE Championship’s first foray into mixed-rules bouts was a smashing success when Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang Jitmuangnon mixed it up in March. Since then, ‘Mighty Mouse’ has opened up about the contest and how much it meant to fight a star as big as ‘The Iron Man'.
In an interview with South China Morning Post, Johnson said:
"Rodtang is probably one of the biggest stars over there in Asia. You know, Thailand, my friends that I lived, that I talk to day to day, spend my life with. They don't even do mixed martial arts. Nobody even wants that s**t, but I'll say hey, man, I'm fighting Rodtang, and they'll be like 'you're fighting him?'"
Johnson went on to call the unique match-up the biggest fight of his ONE Championship career thus far.
"So it was a big fight, very happy. It was probably my biggest fight, that was probably my biggest fight in ONE Championship because everybody knows him."
Watch Johnson react to Rodtang highlights below: