“You’re only going to get better” - Demetrious Johnson on Reece McLaren’s work with legendary John Wayne Parr

Demetrious Johnson recently spoke about the improvements made by Reece McLaren after the No.5-ranked flyweight began working with striking legend John Wayne Parr.

After scoring a highlight-reel knockout over former champion Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1 to capture his first ONE world title, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is looking for his first challenger. Winner of four of his last five, including back-to-back wins against Xie Wei and Windson Ramos at ONE 162, McLaren could potentially be the man for the job.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Johnson shared that McLaren’s improvements are not lost to him. The American MMA icon said:

“I mean, I think if you spend enough time doing something, and working with John Wayne Parr, who has been a legend of striking, you’re only going to get better, right? He looked great.”

While Demetrious Johnson is yet to confirm what comes next for him inside the Circle, many speculate a rematch with Adriano Moraes makes the most sense. With the two tied at one win apiece, a trilogy bout would not only make sense, but it would also be a fairly easy sell for the promotion given the hard-hitting history between the two flyweight stars.

Watch McLaren's highlights below:

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Demetrious Johnson on how he has competed at an elite level for so long

Debuting as a professional mixed martial artist in 2009, Demetrious Johnson developed into one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters of all time. Going on 14 years, ‘Mighty Mouse’ has maintained his status as one of the best fighters in the world, winning championships in multiple promotions.

During an appearance on the popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Johnson discussed his upbringing and how competing in wrestling at an early age helped guide him to becoming one of the most successful stars in MMA:

“It’s probably my upbringing in martial arts, right? I was talking to people the other day and I told them I started when I was 18 in martial arts. If you count, some people don’t count wrestling as a martial art, I do. So I started in middle school, then I got to high school, I didn’t go to wrestle, I jumped straight to mixed martial arts.”

At 36 years old, many combat sports professionals find themselves beginning to slow down, but as a new ONE world champion, Johnson appears to only be getting started inside the Circle.